IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


1.1 


L£12.8 

2?  lag  "— 

Sf   U£    |2.0 


HE9 

■  2.2 


1^       Ki 


Hiotographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


^: 


^\ 


19  MIST  MAIN  STMIT 

WIUTM.N.Y.  14SM 

(71*)  •73-4S03 


r<s^ 


;\ 


is 


t 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/iCIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microraproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microraproductions  historiquas 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  at  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  ch^i^nge 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 
D 
D 

n 

n 


D 


13 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couieur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagie 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  pellicula 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  gAographiques  en  couieur 

Coloured  inic  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couieur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couieur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
ReliA  avec  d'autres  documents 


rri    Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 


along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serrie  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 

distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout^s 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  4t4  filmtes. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  M  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sent  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique.  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mtthode  normale  de  f llmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 


r~n   Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  de  couieur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pellicul^es 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxec 
Pages  dicolor^es,  tacheties  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d^tach^es 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 


I      I  Pages  damaged/ 

I      I  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

r~7|  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I      I  Pages  detached/ 

[~Jj  Showthrough/ 


Tl 
to 


Tl 

P< 
of 
fil 


Oil 

be 
th 
si( 
ot 
fir 
si( 
or 


rri    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


Quality  inigaie  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplimentaire 


D 

D 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponibie 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  pertiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  M  filmAes  A  nouveau  de  fa^on  A 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


Th 
sh 
Til 
wl 

Mi 
dif 
en 
bei 
rig 
rec 
mc 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplAmentaires. 


Pagsi  3  and  4  sr*  cut  off.  Wrinkled  pag«i  may  film  ilightly  out  of  focui. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmi  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

mt 

^ 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

*  4"'  )■„■      vVii*- 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  Impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

IMaps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


L'exemplaire  film*  fut  reproduit  grice  A  la 
g^nArosit*  de: 

La  bibiiothique  des  Archives 
pubiiques  du  Canada 

Las  images  suivantes  ont  MA  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  le  nettet4  de  l'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
pepler  est  ImprimAe  sont  fiimAs  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  To.l's  las  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmAs  en  commen^ant  par  la 
pramlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
derniAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  -^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  y  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  rAduction  diffArents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atrs 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA,  11  est  filmA  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  geuche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  has,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
lllustrant  la  mAthode. 


1  2  3 


1  2  S 

4  5  e 


i 


'A^  *^  -^> 


■*», 


.jT'tSn 


M 


.!,M 


"W._ 


»W"'4 


:-tr. 


>'Xi,lJ«5 


'.%■• 


^  ,M. 


f 


■^k 


4» 


,(^  -  -1 


.V 


POiltICA 


^!pto 


OF 


B  R  I  T  A  J  Ni 

O  R,    A  N 

IMfA^riAL    HISTORY 

AlllJSES  lii  THE  GOVERNMENT*^^ 


1ISSKMPIR% 


Ev&OPB,   AsiA«l|^MD   AMt»IC*{     ^  .  , 

nom  THE  Ul«HEfl)» /Jf^PB,   Ttf  TBS  PXIMfr  j|##«* 

THXWHOLX   TEN0Ii|«W!»f»OVI   TIT*   »WIKOU«    COl»«1^0«i»C»t 

T|fi  rOPUlAi  ijfltl^  TAXAtrON,  WAR,  AW*  C«»«|r»IT* 


"  The  WwWt  Mad  Bufimfs." 


MklMMI 


*. 


%"!# 
^       . 


PARI    FIRST. 


lti|KT>» 


PHtLADELPHIAt 

WfttetiY  df  BEKRiMAN,  for  w.  ■YouM*.  Chefmi| 
^iLtHtNew-YM-k,  and  A.  KKBDiR,  BBlUiMrt. 


M»»««tKCiV. 


T.'   r 


-a*. 


%S»^ii 


I' 


\ 


.# 


.^v 


■^ 


67B 


I  06  if  Q  I 


.  1%^ 


siifssmmmmtsammtimgm^ 


A  D  V  Et  f  ts  E  M  E  N  T,^ 


«*;» 


Mi,  liiHed  at  £4ii^^iii|gh  iM)4  Ixmdoi^  in  4^        i7f  ^ 
fakrm  ayetjr,  jw4^|pfDlbea  of  fatoii^  fue(!t|^  l!«t%|ri|| 
pl«ti  j^Mi  to  gifc  an  impttviul  Htftorjr  Mtlie  i^ib'tii  govii 
in  ft|lries  Of  ptn|ri^etg.    Bot,  wbile  the  aiitli^  unit  pi  "'' 
the  |||efi>  a  (eeoad  noml^,  ahmg  witt  vt  oev  e<K;ion 
he  v|»s,  on  the  adof^l^^aidtf,  i793»  apprehcndedi  alii|i«i 
diffi^ty  made  his  efcape.    lVol>QdkfeBen»;who  aA^pfi 
tori||^erepro%;«ted,  and  aftef  f  veij^  arbitraiy  trial»^lwi  < 
to  thite  nHxtthttittd  ^iibther  to  1^  lii 
»tc|tit|oi  wiU  takcf  placein  Scotlaiid  bei 
at  famief^)  and  moil  m;el/  much  fcmms 
11  then  ceminl^  think  itfdr  boundTby  evu^  tit  i 

fgrat^e,  and  df  jaMce,  to  Slake  icparatioa  to  tll|fe^ 

|n,  iPthet^jfannyiKhich  th^y  have  enconntl^iiliit^ 

m  In  Britain,  aathdnofppmpklcti  hav^bibf  coi  *"*  * 
t»km  revolation.    They  compofe  a  kind  Wht^. 

rti  or  hattle ;  and  thongh  thejr  may  dften  want 
in0uenGe  toj^arfhal  the  nmn  bodiy)  they  yet  enjoy  the^ 
""tte  danger  of  the  fitft  rank,  in  ftori^ung  the  rampat'     ' 

Th«iirerdia  of  a  |»cked  jury,  did  not  alter  ihe  ^ 
who  had  approved  of  the  pubhcation.  F1?e  tiiiiei  ti 
hath,  fittoe  in  fuppre^idn,  been  oflfefed  in  Edinbui^  ^ 
At  London»  a  new  edition  was  printed  by  Rideeway  tiii  $5 
two  bpokfellerst  confined  in  Newgate,  for  pubUrhing  poUticat 
ings.  Thejr  iell  the  pamphlet,  and  others  of  the  fametewj 
openly  in  priibn.  It  is  next  to  impoffible,  for  defpotii^i  t^, 
whelm  the  divine  art  of  printing. 

A  copy  of  the  firft  edition  was  handed  to  Mr.  Jeflreifdni 
American  Secretary  of  State.    He  fpokc  of  it,  on  diffew   *' 
fioos,  kl  Rfpe^ful  terms.     He  faid,  that  it  contained  **  ( 
**  tACK)iiaangC0ttcenf ration  of  abufes,  that  he  had  ever  heard 
*•  government."'    Other  gentlemen  have  delivered  their  opil 
the  fame  cf&&.',  and  their  encouraffenent  was  one  caufe 
ai^xsarance  of  this  American  edition.    In  preparing  it 
prefs,  a  muhiplicity  of  new  materials  prefcnted  thentfeli 
the  recblledUon  of  the  writer.    Hence    the    Introdu^ 
fwelled  to  more  than  its  former  fize.     By  indulgini 
<^.  ei4afginff|  at  he  went  on,  the  author  has  foui 
U%  to  |p*j>tint  the  whole  of  the  original  paraj 


I  4  J 


^gned.  ^  When  he  came  to  examine  hb  perTormaifl  at  the  ^HC" 
1^  of  two  3reare,  he.ravtr  many  topics  ox  importance  that  hoA 
^bnt  flightly  touched ;  an|  wb^cever  related  to  his  na^ve 
jrjf^he  was  anxiovsto  make  as  perfr.'^  as  polfible.  Infteady  thi^ie- 
^f)f  ^orreding  an  old  work»  he  has  iii  a  great  meafnre  fonned 
one ;  but.^to  preferve  the  wtitj  of  compoGtion,  he  has  ava|i|{^4 


Ifntiotoffa^y  or  any  i^feFence  to  publUationsj  pofteiioi  lipjihe 

1$the  Intinidu^ltQn.    A  mixture  of  t^  kind  would  have^eiOn- 

itnanrative.  The  reader  is  here  presented  with  4  kind  ^ori- 

'~iund  |dah;  of  thole  follies  and  crimes  of  governmenti  JHiich 

filift  foundation  of  a  Britifh)i  and  in  parftcular,  of  a^ots 

Ion.    This  little  volume^  formsa  general  introduffpn  to 

fal  of  thofe  trials  at  Edinburgh,  for  fedition,  that  have 

nted,  and  to  thofe  others  for  hi^  treafoui  that  wiH  pofii- 

foOnt»rinted,  in  the  United  States.  ^ 

yrHmi  wal  at  firft  intended  for  that  cla(s  of  p(ii^;^a' |Ad 

iCh  time  to  fpend  in  readings  and  who  wantdfa  fimi,  but 

'id  meal  of  p(Dlitical  information.    The  h.&a  ate  Ihere^Kre 

together  as  clofely  as  poffible.  All  the  coquetry  ^aiit)%^ 

been  avoided.    The  ambition  of  the  writfsr  was  ^»  be  calw 

AfBc&ed,  and  intelligible;  becaufe  troth  is  the  bafisl^  fonid 

t»  fimplicity   the    foul  of  el^ance,  and  perfpicUity  ^e 

touch-ftone  of  accurate  cosnpontion.  • 

port  was  circulated  and  believed)  in  Scotland)  that  this  pro- 

I  came,  in  reality^  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the  ^ges  m  the 

'of  feiljipn.    The  charge  was  unjuft.     His  lordfhip  did  not 

a  itngle  page  of  it ;  but  he  faid  openly,  that  its  contents  were 

entic)  an4  unanfwerable  ;  and  that  the  public  were  welcome  to 

it  his.  . 

r  the  ext.eme  raflinefs  of  his  original  plan,  the  writer  can- 

o&tt  an  apology  that  prudence  will  accept.    A  Ihort  f^ory  may^ 

I)  convey  the  motives  of  his  condudl.    In  17(8,  the  duke 

rlborough)   with  eighteen  thoufand   men^    landed  on  the 

of  France.    The  troops,  when  difembarking,  were  oppofed  by 

'leach  battery,  which  was  immediately  iilcnced,  for  it  confided 

of  an  old  man,  armed  with  two  inuflcets.    He  was  jlightly 

d  in  the  leg,  and  made  prifoncr.    I'he  Englifh  alked  him 

>heexpe^ed,  with  two  muikets,  to.filence  the  fire  of  their 

fl    *•  Genllcmen,"  he  replied,  "  I  have  only  done  my  duty ; 

if  all  my  countrymen  here,  had  aded  like  me,  you  would 

^is  day  have  landed  at  Cancalle." 

lfl!.4pF'LrHiA,  AW.  14,  I794> 


I  N  T  R  O  rj  U  d  T  I  O  N- 


iBfBriAfik  noartjinet  the  Revohovm^Imminfe  JlaugUir—E. 
wan—'Nootka  Snmd-^atakow — Tippoo  Saib — Amounty/fNt^'n 
al  dtbh^Enormoiu  ext(nU  ^  k*  interefl  m  the  next  century-^Scimda 
termiM  which  ii'waijufi  eoatfOaed^Sketch  of  the  civil  lifi  of  H^ 
Sam  IIL^Pr^gaU  ei^diSture  of  the  court — Hints  for  royisit  eK»T 
vomj^-^^tftmjmie^yf Jingle ff Olid  efthirty^/^  miOion/J^r-'^ 
L9ttenes''-^0rl  of  Cbathan^pecmen  of  Britijh  tcuca^ 
North-^ISi  estlravagant  premium  for  money — ScheniePof  pa^g 
pi^  deH-^Its  futitity — Uniform  tifurdity  ^modentS^Jb^^i 
Chifra^er  dud  defign  of  this  wdtii 

SINQE  the  year  one  thouiand  fix  hundred  and  eiglity^ig}%'j 
Bplain  has  been  qnceat  war  with  Holland,  five  tifl^cs  at  Waij 
with  France,  and  fix  times  at  war  with  Spain.    The  exptilfion,  itM 
flight  oi  Janiin  the  Second  prodi^ced  a  bloody  civil  war  both  |Sb| 
Scotland  and.lrehmd.  Since  that  time j  we  have  alfo  been  difturbra;| 
with  two  rdbdlions  in  Britain,  befidesah  endlefscatalogne  of  pid9S|-j 
cr^^in  Afiaand  Ametica.     In  Europe,  the  once  vr^dbl^lK,/ 
vanee  for  a  war  hatfi  fuc(feffively  extended  from  one'|p||p^  tni 
iand  lives,  to  thrice  that  number ;  and  from  thirty  to^  lii  hoift|t 
and  thirty-nine  millions  fterling.    From  Africa,  we  import  anni]^ 
ally  between  thirty  and  forty  thouiand  (laves,  which  riles,  in  thi 
courft  q{  a  century,  to  at  lean  three  millions  of  murthef^.    In*Beiii> 
f^oalf,  we  deftroyed  or  expelled,  within  the  (ho>rt  jieric^d  of  filf^ 
tearf^,  five  nfifliona  of  induftrious  and  imtocent  people* ;'  vi^  hav 
been  fover^Hins  of  high  rank  in  that  couhtry  for  about  thirty-fii 
ireara;  and  there  ia  reafon  to  compute  that,  unce  our  elevation,  w 
nave  ftrewe^  th^  pkins  of  Hindoftan',  with  thirty-fix  niillions  on 
carcafeaf .    Combining  the  diverfified  ravages  of  famine,  peililenc^,  1 
and  the  fword,  it  may  juftly  be  fuppofed,  that  in  thefe  ti-anfadtions,,] 
fifteen  hundred  ihoufan^of  our  countrymen  have  perifhed ;  a  numw| 
ber  equal  to  that  part  of  the  whole  inhabitants  of  Britain  who  are  at  j 
prefiMt  able  to  bear  arms.  The  deftrudion  of  our  French  and  Spa^jj 
niih  ai^gonifts,  and  of  German,  Sardinian,  and  Portugucfe  merce«| 
nariet  purchafed  by  Britain  to  fight  againft  them,  has  amount- 
ed ,to  at  leait  a  fecond  fifteen  hundred  thoufand  lives.     Hence  '^ 
follows,  that  Britifii  quarrels  have  (deprived  this  fingic    quartt 
of  the  world  of  three  millions  of  men  in  the  flower  of  life,  whc 
Aefeendants,  in  the  progrefs  of  domeftic  focicty,  muft  have 

•  DiriHi  Hiftorj  of  Hindoftao,  quarto  editioa,  vol.  III.  p.  70,    ^:..^ 
f  Infn.    Chap*  |4  -  ^^ 


^r 


(     ^     ) 


|>^  itoto  muItitudcB  beyoud  calculation.  The  perfons  deftroyed  have, 

>in  whole,  certainly  exceeded  thirty  millions,  that  is  to  fay,  three 

hundred  thoufiind  ^As  of  honlicijle  >0r  d^um..     Thefe  viAimt 

^  have  been  facrificed  to  the  balance  of  power,  and  the  balance  of 

I  tilde,  the  honour  of  the  Britiih  flag,  the  rights  of  the  Bntifli 

b:  irowfl,  the  *<  mnmpQtmee  of  ParUament*,"  and  the  fccurity  of  the 

^Froteftant  fucceifion.    Proceedtog  at  thia  rate  for  another  century, 

•we  may,  with  that  felf-complaceacy>  which  is  natural  to  mankind, 

idmire  oupfelves^  and  our  atchievments ;  but  every  other  hation  in 

the  world  muft  be  entitled  to  wi(h  that  an  eart^^uuke  or  a  volcano 

I:,  flioidd  M  bury  the  whole  Britifh  iflaoda  ^^pP'^lMp^c  centre  of 

ll^^obe;  thatafingle,  but  decifive  exertion  ^f^Hhmghtyven- 

^lll^nce ihould  terminate  the  progrels  and  the  reniSEMpB  of  our 

Jn  the  (bale  of  juft  calculation,  the  moft  valuable  commodity, 

pt  to  human  blood  is  money.     Having  made  a  grofs  eftimate  of 

1^  wafte  of  the  former,  let  us  endeavour  to  compute  the  confump- 

'^     of  the  latter.    The  e«pences  of  Britifh  wars,  from  the  revo- 

i  to  the  end  of  the  year  1789*  has  beeii  ftated  by  Sir  John 

lirf  at  three  hundred  and  ieventy-feven  miBionSi  twenty>nine 

l^ufiind,  five  hundred  and  ninety>eight  ponnda  iler^ng.     Since 

|^«  pi^ication,  a  fleet  has  been  armed  u^ainft  Spaii^  to  enforce 

!*  -^         '    •     gf  killing  whales  at  the  fouth  pole,  and  wild  oits  at 

kance«^,  Bythe  account  of  the  mini^r  himfelf,  as 

jiid  bclQX|i)di^ei|t|  the  afi^r  coft  ua  three  millions,  one  hun- 

|h^  and  thirly-threqwufand  pounds,;):    In  poisit  of  ceconomy, 

||his  prqie^  refembled  the  commencement  of  alaw-fuit  in  chancery, 

1p  recover  half  a  crown.    We  have  iince  quarreOed  with  Catharine 

>f  Ri^fila,.  for  a  few  acres  in  t^e  deiarts  of  Tartary ;  and  the 

charges  of  this  fecond  armament  muil  alfo  have  bee?  yury  confidcra- 

1^.    At  prefent,-wc  arc  tearing  afuodcz  thedomiqifi^  of  Tipoo 

J  Saib ;  and  Mr.  Fo3(  lately  faid  m  the  hcmfe  of  coai^nt,  that  this 

p  war  goes  on,  at  an  expence  to  ourfelves  of  two  hahdred  and  fifty 

I^QuIand  pounds  llerling  per  month,  or  about  eight  thoufand  guineas 


*  This  moded  phrafe  was  current  before  tti«  Amerk^n 
iSnce  that  time,  been  laid  afide. 

f  Hiftory  of  the  public  revenue  of  tlie  Britifli  empire,  purt 
:"The  parliculars  are  as  follows,  viz. 
Espencesof  war  during  the  reign  ot  William  III. 
:  QMen  Anne  .... 

feCeoiie  I  -  .  ^  ., 

jExpence  of  the  war  began  anno  1739  -  . 

■^Dittoof  the  war  begun  anno  1756  .  . 

'"^ittoof  the  American  war  •  •  . 

fthearmamentrcfpedting  Holland,  in  1787        * 


revobitioQ.    IthiUb, 
III.  chap,  ad* — T" 


«c. 


30,447.38* 

43.3  ^»o®3 
^,048,»67 

46,4111,689 

111,171,996 

>39»»7»»82fr 

3«i,3*5 


fc|lifir ApnualRegifter,  for  1791.  p.  141. 


Totol  £,  377»o»M9» 


(    7    ) 

perdaV".  Comprehending  thefe  fircih  exploitSj  the  amount  of  niottl 
debumd  ftom  the  exdnjcquery  on  account  of  war  iince  the  remliipl 
tiooi  muft  exceed  three  hundred  and  eighty  millions  iledinff.  We  ate ; 
alfo  to  fubjoin  the  price  of  fixteeaor  twenty  thoufand  merchant  jSwm 
taken  by  the  enemy,    'this  diminutive  aiticle  of  fixty  or  an  htt^,^ 
dred  miiUona  fterling  would  ha.vt  been  fufficicnt  for  tHmfportittjll 
and  iettling  eight  or  twelve  hundred  thoufand  fanners,  with  theif | 
wives  add  children,  on  the  banks  of  the  Sufquehannah  or  the  K{i& 
fifippi*    So  mtoocrous  a  colony  of  cuftomers  could  well  have  been 
fpared  frotulii  jBt^tiofis  of  Europe*    They  would  foon  have  riva^ 
led  the  Wj/Kf^^i^  iFrancci  and  have  required  a  greater  quantl 
of  nmnM|H|pwan  this  iHand  has  ever  prepared  for  exportlti 
Infteadt^iPllpiMnfortable  a  profpedy  we  are,  as  a  nation.  ind^b| 
to  the  (ktlt^  of  at  leafl:  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions, 
annual  iliCereft  of  this  fum,  the  neceflary  expences  of  m.anagei 
and  of  colle£iing  the  revenue  that  defrays  it,  are  all  together  al 
eUvenHuUioiu  and  an  half  ^Rng,    This  burden  is  equinueat  to#: 
yeaily  polLtax  of  one  pound  three  (hiUings  flerling  per  h^ad*  upcn 
every  individual  inhabitant  of  Britain.*    Befides  what  we  pty  ^ 
prelent   upon  this  account*  it  is  worth  while  to  notice  what 
have  paid  already.     From  the  revolution  to  the  year  1789)  I 
five,  the  intereft  of  the  public  debts,  and  of  the  public  loam 
ioclui^ng  other  incidental  articles  conne6ted  with  thef<$.iW-^.-^-^ 
hasbeen  three  hundred.and  ninety  millions,  two  hflnife^a  and^, 
ftnty'flx  thoufand,  five  hundred  and  feventy  nine  pounds.f 
^   But  this  is  a  trifle  compared  with  the  turns  of  intereft  thai 
nufft  discharge  in  the  next  hundred  years.    The  burden  hath  n( 
irifen  to  eleven  millions,  and  five  hundred  thoufand  ppunds  ftertt.  ^ 
per  annum.    Six  yearly  payments  only,  from  the   ift  of  januat^j 
1793,  to  the  I  ft  of  January  1798,  indufive,  with  compound  ii 
reft  at  five  per  cent,  amount  to  eighty  miltions,  nine  hundred 
^ty-fbur  thoufand,  three   hundred  mux  forty  feven  poundis,  fouT] 

*    In    an  afFahr  of  f*  much  inportance,    the  utmod  accuracy  may  be 
pe£led.     The  exaft  imwunt  of  the  debt,  as  ftated  by  Sir  J«hn  Sinclair,  is  two  iitth\ 
tfrtJaf/4/irty./(n/tM  mil/iom,  nine  hundred  and  elghtf~<,tu  tboufandt  nine  hundrea^ 
Md  tv/etUy-Jevttt  poundsf  fivejhillingt  and  tnvo-pence.     Hiftory  of  the  public  reve- 
SRie,  Part  III.  cbap.  r.    In  another  place*  near  the  end  of  (he  fame  chapter,  he| 
has  tliftfe  word».     **  Thus,  including  the  finking  fand,  and  the  intereft  of  our  1 
**  lifilidated  claifns,  oar  public  dehts,  at  prefent  require  the  fom  of  ten  mlUion^t^ 
f*  hundred  and  thirty-tivo  thoufand^  one  hundred  and  ninety.one  pounds  fouru 
Jkil/ingtt   and'^bree  half. fence  per   annum."      The   expence  of  coUcding  thi 
fOfti^xxi  proportion  to  that  onf  the  whole  Britiili  revenue,  i?  about  aine  hundred  thot 
JTaad  pounds  a  year,  which,  added  t«  the  intereft  itfelf, gives  the  eleven  millions  1 
an  luili^  ftated  in  the  iezf.     'i'he  preface  to  the  volume  here  ({uotcd,  bears  date 
jQ^of  January  1700.     The  Spanilh  and  RuflSan  fquahbks  took  place  a ft| 
Mnedinif  eftiirtafe  had  been  ma^t  of  the  extent  of  the  national  debt;  ffl 
nins  pMB^oncd  in  the  leit  are,  both  as  to  the  principal  and  tike  annuft^ 
fnth  about  the  fadi,  even  after  deducing  what  Mr.  fitt  may  have  m^iitt 

f  Ibid.  Fat(  III.  chap  ad,  ^^ 


IhfUings  and  three*pence.  ^  The  reader  may  profecute  the  (eries  of 
figures  to  the  end  of  the  next  century.  He  win  then  difcover  that 
leveral  myriads  of  millions  fterlingare  not  for  that  time  alonetcqusd 
to  the  prefliire  of  this  enormous  load.  We  far  excel  th^ 
Greeks  and  Romans  in  the  arts  of  induftry,  and  the  refources  of 
Jnrealth  ;  but  it  would  be  vain  to  fearch  among,  ancient  nations*  for 
kmy  inftance  correfpondent  with  Britifh  debts,  and  Britiik  folly. 

It  is  an  objedt  of  the  higheft  curiofity  and  importance  for  every 
one  of  us,  to  enquire,  on  whait  account  fuch  aftonifhlng  funis  have 

expended? 

'  ined ; 

here  in- 

ofthe 


been  borrowed j  and  by  what  methods  they  have 

i^  the  courfe  of  this  work,  eaca  of  thefe  queries  w: 

^ut^in  the  mean  time,  a  few  detached  particidars 

ferted  to  ailiil  the  reader  informing  a  conception  of 

tmfinefs.  -  •  ..,,.. 

In  the  war  of  1689,  that  feed-bed  of  the  future  calamities  of 
Britain, .money  was  bdrrowed  [upotf  annuities  for  lives.  '*  Four* 
**  teen  per  cent,  was  granted  for  one  life,  twelve  per  cent,  for  twd 
*•  lives,  and  ten j^  cent,  for  three.  Such  t^rms  were,  in  thelngheft 
'^*  degree  extravagant  f  particularly  as  no  attention  was  paid  to  <^ 
^yjerenceofages*"^  '■       '     \    - 

;  'The  fame  author  adds,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Price,  that 
'4!  borrowing  at  the  rate  of  twelve /^r  cettt,  for  tWo  lives,  and  tea 
-^  Peffeoft,  fot  three, 'is  giving  ten  per  cent,  for  money  in  the  one 
'<*  cajfe,  a^d  n\nt  pet  cent,  in  tne'other."f  From  1690,  to  the  end 
of  the  War,  the  hmorian  fays,  that  **  eight  pircent.  was  uniformly 
**  paid."  To  r^ife  a  farther  fum  upon  thefe  annuities,  another 
expedient  was  in  the  fequel  embraced.  The  annuitants  were  offei'- 
ed  a  reverfionary  intereft,  after  the  &ilure  of  their  lives*  for  mnety' 
Jix  years f  to  be  reckoned  from  January,  1695,  on  their  paying 
only  four  and  a  half  year's  purchafe,  or  fixty-three  pounds  for 
^very  annuity  of  fourteen  pounds.  In  1698*  the  demand  was  re- 
duced to  four  years  purdiafe!;  or  fifty^fix  pOUnds,  foi^  the  annuity 
of  fourteen.  For  our  ferther  fatisfadion,  "  the  ,  fame  fyftem 
**  was  afterwards  adopted  in  the  ^eign  of  Queen  Anne.''^  Som^ 
of  thefe  annuities  remam  at  this  day  *'  to  the  amount  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  thoufand,.  two  hundred  and  three  pounds, 
feven  (hillings  and  eight  pence /rr  tfmitim,  for  which  the  fum  OJT 
one  million,  eight  hundred  and  thirty-Hx  thoufand,  two  hundre^ 
and  feventy-iive  pound^,  feventeen  (hillings'  and  ten  pence  three 
farthings  had  been  originally  contributed  ;  and  lor  the  ufe  o( 
whichi  the  public  muft  pay  above  thirteen  nuUioni  before  they 
««  are  all  extina."J 
But  even  all  this  was  only  a  part  of  the  evil.  "  Davenant  af- 
firms, that  the  debt  of  the  nation  was  fwelled  more  by  ingkprmi* 
than  even  by  the  exorbitant  intereft  that  was  paid ;  and  that 


<« 


<c 
c< 

U 

€( 
'  U 


ti 


H 


th 
lo 


es 


^     tf'.c  public  revenue,  &c.  Part  n.  ehiv.  4. 


f  IW, 


(    9    ) 


/*  Sis  credit  wai  at  fo  low  an  ebb,  tJtmtfivt  mWtMu*  given  bypaiiia. 
t"  inenti  produced  for  the  fervice  of  the  war,  and  to  the  ufes  of  the 
•"  public,  but  little  more  than  two  mlBtm  and  a  half***  In  ano- 
ther paffiige  he  feems  to  contradict  himfelf,  and  to  reduce  the 
loflel  in  this  way  to  one  million  out  of  five ;  but  there  is  (vSt 
evidence  on  ripcord,  that  his  firft  computation  was  more  accurate 
than  the  lecond. 

The  management  of  this  money,  when  obtained,  correfponde^ 
with  the  terms  of  the  loan.     In  the   reign  of  William  the  Thii  " 
the  civil  lifLj^t  eup  tf  abonunatiofu,  was  fupported  by  certain 
es,  approp^Jiwd  for  that  purpofe,  and  which  amounted  **  at 
V  average,'*  to  about  fix  hundred  and  eighty  thoufand  pounds 
**  aimitm.**f  The  public  revenue  of  England,  after  every  poffil 
exertion,  was  only  fcrewed  up  to  three  millions,  eight  hundrellj 
and  ninety-five  thoufiind,  two  hundred  and  five  pounds  ;t  fo  tki^' 
the  civil  hft  was  kfs  than  one-fifth,  but  more  than  one-nzth  pari^ 
of  iht  vuhok  revenues  of  England,      If  the  civil  lift  of  this  daybcnne 
the  fame  proportion  to  the  national  income,  it  would  extend  to  i^ 
leaft  three  mimns^erling.     Sir  John  Sinclair  has  given  a  complclii; 
ftate  of  the  whole  expences  of  the  civil  lift,  during  the  thirteear 
years  of  the  reign  of  the  Proteftant  hero.   A  few  articles  may  fenii 
as  a  fpecimen  of  the  reft.  To  the  rohea,' Jlfiy-feven  thoufimd peSi^ 
This  money  would  have  cloathed  two  thouand  poor  peopl%  i^;. 
forty  (hillings  each  per  annum,  for  thirteen  years,  with  a  reverfioii 
of  five  thoufand  pounds  for  the  drefs  of  the  royal  fiimily,  whitliv 
eonfifted,  propedy  fpeaking,  but  of  two   perfons.    JtwtUffiikj 
thouftMd  pounds ,     Plate,  one  hundred  and  tiuo  thoufand  pounds,  Band^ 
of  gentlemen  penfion'ers,  Jia^j-nine  thoufand  pounds.    To  makittff 
gardens,   befides  an  account  paid  under  a  different   head,  em 
hundred  and  thirty'three   thoufand  pounds.    After    fetting    apart 
thirty-three    thoufand  pounds  for    his  gardens,  William  could 
have  applied  the  reft  of  this  money  much  better.     He  might  have 
parcelled  out  of  the  crown  lands,  which  are  to  this  day  lying  wafte, 
11^  the  centre  of  England,  two  thoufand  fmall  farms.  On  each  of  his 
tenants,  he  might  have  beftowed  fifty  pounds  to  begin  the  world ; 
and  the  firft  ten  years  of  a  perpetual  leafe,  free  of  rent.     To  the 
ftables,  /wo  hundred  and  thirty  five  thoufand  pounds.     To  the  great 
iK^rdrdbe,  three  hundred  and  nineteen  thoufemd  pounds.     This  fum 
would  have  clothed  an  army  offixty  thoufand  men;  or  what  is 
more  ieftimable,  ten  thoufand  tradefmen  and  their  families.     Privy 
pur(e,yoiir  hundred  and  eighty-three  thoufand  pounds.  To  the  treafuter 
of  the  chambers,  four  hundred  and  eighty  four  thoufand  pounds,    Thia 
money  would  have  been  of  the  utmoft  fervice,  in  paving  and  light- 
hg^he  ftreets  of  London.    To  the  treafurcr  of  the  late  Qin 
yiupm  her  huiband  did  not  think  worth  a  plate  full  of  green 

^  ^^»S  of  dl<|  public  revttQue,  Part  1 1 .  chap.  4.      f  Ibi J,  Part  1 1  %i% 


''tf'k 


t    ro     ) 


¥ 


jfve  hunted  mid  fat  thdufmd  pumdt.  To  the  prince  and  princeft  <tf 
Denmark>  a  harmlefs  bnt  nklehwttfAt,  Jin  maulriJ  Md  ibitij/f^bt 
tboujand  ^uttds»  Fifty>tbree  thou(u)d  CKbtmv,  at  twelve  p6undfi 
eacn»  might  have  been  relieved  from  prifon  by  this  motiej ;  or  a 
^id  might  have  been  eftabliflied  with  it»  for  the  annual  ducltairgft 
a  thoufand  prifoners  of  that  kind  on  the  birth'day  of  his  Mjel- 
,  and  an  equal  number  on  the  day,  when  he  figned  a  warrant  for 
mai&cre  of  Glenco.  Secret  fervice8>  feven  hundred  and Jeoenty' 
thoufand  pounds.  Fees  and  (alaries,  eight  bmidfed  and  jfif-ngi* 
ifattd ptnmd*.  Peniions  and  annuities,  fix  hundred  and  dghty-fin 
\t^Mjfaad  pounds.  Cofferer  of  the  houfeho1d»  thirteen  mmdred  thoU' 
'  pounds.  In '^  the  end  of  the  laft  centurV,  one  Shilling 
t  farther  than  three  can  go  now ;  fo  that  this  fufik  was  in 
tty  equal  to  four  millions  at  this  day.  The  king  of  £ng« 
therefore  fpent  what  correfponds  to  three  hundred  thou* 
ponnds/rr  dawm  on  his  houfchf^d'for  thirteen  years,  while^ 
durii^  a  conliderable  part  of  his  reigr.«  his  fubjefts  by  thouianda 
ind  ten  thoufands  expired  of  hunger*.  To  the  peymafter  of 
dw  works,  ye«r  hundred  andfeventyfour  thoufand ponndt.  The  whole 
b^  extends  to  eight  millions,  eight  hundred,  and  eighty  thoufand 
pounds ;  and  it  does  not  appear  that  one  fourth  part  of  it  was  ex- 
pended, for  wife  and  ufeful  purpofes.f  This  was  the  frugality  of 
Ibe  government,  at  a  time,  when  they  were  compelled  to  borfOMf 
i||oney,  at  tcnpercera. 

In  the  next  reign,  the  fyftem  wa^  qot  much  improved.  An  Eft* 
gnih  houfe  of  commons  informed  Queen  Anne  that  *<  there  rc- 
^  main.'d  at  Chriftmas  1710,  thtrty^e  millions,  three  hundred 
**  and  two  thoufiind,  one  hundred  and  feven  pounds  of  public  mo* 
*'  ney  unaccounted  for.  "I  In  1714,  one  million  eight  hundred 
and  feventy-fix  thoufand  pounds  were  raiiied  by  a  lottery.  Out  of 
this  {um,/our  hundred  and fiven^-JiM.thouJimd pounds  nftrt  diftribut- 
ed  among  the  proprietors  of  the  fortunate  tickets.  This  was  4 
"premium  of  about  thirty-four /rrfrti/.  on  the  fum  actually  receiv- 
ed.^ During  the  war  of  1 739,  the  charter  of  the  Eaft-India  con- 
pany  was  prolonged  from  1 776  to  1 780.  This  was  an  antictpatioqi 
of  i«venty  three  years.  The  value  of  the  compenfation  granted  by 
the  company  to  government,  did  not  exceed  thirty  thooftMd 
pounds.^!  This  v^ras  like  Efau  felling  his  birth-right  for  a  mefs  of 
pottage.  If  the  bargain  had  been  deferred,  till  the  expiration  of 
the  former  monopoly,  perhaps  forty  times  that  fum  could  have 
bcen^obtaincd. 

*  Infra  chap.  r. 

-f  Siiteen  hundred  and  fcventy  founda  for  the  widows  of  sfficsrt,  appesr  Hkf 
FsUMT'i  half-penny  worth  cf  bread,  in  a  corner  of  one  article. 
1  tlfflory  of  the  public  reveniiei  Tait  n.  chap.  4. 
S  Ihii.  I  Ibid. 


■■*. 


(     n     » 


Sir  Jokn  Sinclair  gitet  a  <*  geneisl  view  of  primiums  upon  the 
**  new  loani/^  in  the  war  of  1756.*  Thefe  premiums  amount  in 
value  to  foiirtten  milBoiu,  two  btmdred  md  agbty-three  thou/and,  mne 
Imidnd  imd  fewntyjiw  potmdt  ^hig.  The  total  fum  borrowed* 
and  added  to  the  national  debt,  for  this  premium,  was^  feventy-two 
millions,  one  hundred  and  eleven  thoufand,  and  four  pounds.  Th^ 
premium  is,  within  a  perfcA  triHe,  one  Jifih  jbart  of  the  whole  mo- 
ney obtained.  Thus,  out  of  every  twenty  millings  of  the  loan,  we 
give  back  four  (hillings  as  a  reward  for  the  lender.  At  this  ratc;^ 
tm  Britiih  armies  conquered  Guadaloupe  and  Canada;  and  we  con« 
tinue  to  boaft  of  the  glory  of  thefe  ex|rioits.  Yet  a  perfon.  mighty 
with  as  much  reafon,  bum  his  houfe,  for  the  fake  of  rqaftin^  av  - 
egg  in  its  alhes.  We  may  fuppofe,  that  the  reft  of  the  national 
debt  was  created  upon  terms  at  leaft  equally  hard  ;  and  the  fifth 
part  of  the  whole  two  hundred  and  fifty  miUions  contra£led,  gives 
a  premium  of  fifty  millions  sterlikg.  After  fuch  work,  it  tt 
not  wonderful,  that  we  are  now  harnefTed  in  debts  and  taxes,  like 
horfetin  a  carriage ;  that  one  thirJ  part  of  the  expences  of  a  family 
confift  in  the  payment  of  public  burdens ;  that  five  hundred  thou* 
fand  people  in  England  are  fupported  by  charity  ;f  that  we  muft 
give  twenty<fix  pounds  fterling  per  annum  for  leave  to  keep  a  hack* 
ner  coach  ;  and  twenty  fhillings  per  annum  for  leave  to  make%  fiir* , 
thing  candle,  befidcs  one  penny  per  pound  of  excife  upon  the, 
manufacture  ;  nine-pence  per  pound  of  importation  duty  for  Peru- 
vian bark ;  and  three  guineas  lor  leave  to  (hoot  a  partridge  worth 
two-pence.  Half  the  price  of  a  bottle  of  wine,  w  bowl  of  punch, 
or  a  tankard  of  porter,  goes  off  in  taxel,  for  leave  to  drink  it.  This 
deferves  not  to  be  termed  the  language  of  malignity.  Thofe  who 
pay  the  reckoning  have  a  right  to  read  the  biU. 

**  I  am  no  orator  as  Brutus  is, 

•*  To  ftir  men's  blood ;  I  only  fpeak  right  on. 

"  I  tell  you  that,  ^ti^BCiQYi  yw  yourjttves  do  know" 

One  other  inftance  only  fliall  be  fubjoined  in  this  place,  of  the 
Viannerin  which  public  debts  have  been  coatra<!rked.     In  17SJ, 

*  Part  II.  chap.  4. 

f  Or.  Wendebom,  a  candid,  and  well  informed  writer,  in  his  View  of  En|u 
land,  towatdi  the  clofe  of  the  eighteenth  century,  fays  that  "  whoever  Uvea 
*'  upon  a  thoufand  a  year,  is  fuppo(ed  to  pay  at  prefent  about^x  hundred  ot  it  i« 
"  gov«rament  duties,  taxes,  excife,  church,  parith  and  poor  rates. " 

He  alfo  obferves ,  that  of  the  people  of  England,  *^  one  million  is  fo  poor  it  muft 
**  be  fupported  by  the  reft. ' '  Thefe  alfertions  have  been  confiderabl  y  fofitiicd  in  the 
Mxt,  to  avoid  any  charge  of  exaggeration.  They  do  not  at  all  apply  to  Scotland, 
where  both  taxes  and  begga|yare  much  lefs  numerous. 

As  a  neceifary  confequance  of  this  enormous  taxation,  the  author  informs  us,  that 


'f 


"  fifty  jrears  ago  a  family  might  live  very  handfomely  on  five  hundred  peuods  frr 
**  annum,  but  ft  thvufaad  wiU  at  prtfeat  ktrdlj  g*f^J*r,** 


(    »»    ) 

tjord  NortK  received  for  the  national  fervice  twelve  inillioni  iler' 
ling.     For  this  fum  he  gave  eighteen  mUliona  of  three  per  cei^i 
ftock,  and  three  millions  of  iom  per  cent,  ftock.    The  annual  inte- 
reft  of  thefe  two  iums  is  fix  hundred  and  fixty  thoufand  pounds,  or 
five  and  an  half  ^r  ceia,  for  the  twelve  millions  aAually  received. 
Jtloney  is  not  commonly  advanced  in  £iK;land,  at  more  than  four 
and  an  half  ^r  cent,  of  mtereft  ;  and  very  frequently  at   four  per 
ant.     At  the  former  of  thefe  two  rates,  the  twelve  millions  borrow- 
ed by  Lord  North  ought  olily  to  have  coft  five  hundred  and 
forty  thoufand  pounds  per  annum.     The  one  hundred  and  twenty 
tbbufand pounds  additional,  at  twenty-five  years  purchafe,  make  si 
sremium  oi  three  mllRorts  Jlerling  for  the  loan  of  twelve  miilions.     It 
18.  not  furprifing  that  fir  John  Sinclair,  Dr.  Swift  and  other  writers* 
complain  fojoudly  of  the  fcandalous  conditions   upon  which  the 
public  debts  of  Britain  have  been  borrowed.     The  original  con- 
tractors with  government  for  lending  of  the  money,  remind  us  of 
a  band  of  ufurers,  embracing  every  advantage  over  the  neceffities  of 
the  ftate ;  while  the  minifters  of  the  crown  feem  like  defperate  game- 
fters,  who  care  not  by  what  future  expence  they  fecnre  another 
caft  of  the  dice.     From  the  fa6ls.  above  ftated,   the  public  funds 
prove  to  be  a  (lupenduous  mafs  of  fraud,  profligacy,  impofture  and 
extortion.     Behold  that  facred  edifice  of  national  faith,  that  politi- 
cal SanSum  fanSorunit  which  we  fupport,  at  an  annual  expence  of 
eleven  millions  and  an  half  fterling  !* 

The  friends  of  Mr.  William  Pitt  boait  much  of  the  nine  millions 
of  debt,  which,  in  a  period  of  fix  years,  he  is  faid  <to  have  dif- 
charged.  The  fcheme  is  an  abfolute  bubble.  He  began  to  buy 
up  three  per  centt.  in  April  1786 ;  at  which  time  they  fold  for  fe- 
venty.  They  rofe,  almoft  infiantly,  to  feventy.feven,  and  upt 
wards.  They  have  fince  been  m\ich  higlier ;  and  if  the  minifter 
Ihall  make  any  fubftantial  progrefs  in  his  plan,  they  will  very  foon 
reach  an  hundred  per  cent.  Thus,  as  Sir  John  Smclair  obferves, 
•*  the  more  we  pay,  the  more  we^all  be  indebted;  every  (hilling that 
**  is  laid  out  in  purchafing  itock,  rai/es  the  price  proportiomAly.** 
So  peculiar  is  the  n... ure  of  this  national  dtbt,  and  10  verv  ha2ard- 
ous  an  attempt  to  difcharge  it !  To  make  this  quite  plain,  it  may 
be  obferved,  that  when  Nlr.  Pitt  firft  began  to  buy  up,  the  market 

{)rlce  of  the  whole  three  *fr  cent,  funds,  was  all  together  but  one 
lundrtd  and  feventeen  millions,  fix  hundred  and  forty>three  thou^ 
fand  pou'uls.  In  two  years  and  an  half,  he  had  purchafed  a  fmall 
pait  of  it ;  hut  the  parade  that  he  made  about  this  operation,  raifed 
the  ptice  i)ithe  remaining  Jlock  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  miU 
lions,  four  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  pounds.     The  fequelji  ia 

*  Of  th«  original  ceimnrncement  of  ihii  debt,  thechara£^n,  wiotivei,  nnd  emo- 
lumenti  of  its  aiHhen,  the  reader  may  find  an  authentic  hiltorj  in  the  Political  Fr^ 
gfi/t,  Part  1 1 .  which  will  appear  in  a  few  monthi. 


(  *l  ) 


06obeT  1788)  was,  that  the  ^mifter  had  expended  or  fonk  /<uif 
mUtwis  and  fevem  hunilred  thoufund  petmdsy  and  yet»  he  left  matters 
WOKSB  THAN  HB  FOUND  THEM  bf  fotir  milihtttt  frveti  hundred 
undftventy-fiven  tbonjimd  founds,*  It  muft  be  ackiv>wledgedt  in  fa- 
vour of  Mr.  Pitt)  that  while  he  has  augmented  the  prindpal  fam  of 
the  national  debt»  he  has  reduced  the  annual  payment  of  intereft*'; 
The  three  millions  and  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds  of  thiee  fer 
cfnts  which  are  paid  oS,  coil  formerly,  one  hundred  and  eight 
thoufand  pounds //r  a»««m  ofintereftj  which  is  now  extinguiihedi 
This  is  the  fole  advantage  arifing  to  the  public  from  the  tranfaAimu 
But  there  was  a  (liortcr  way  to  have  come  at  this  fame  purpofe.  Mr; 
Pitt  and  his  parliament  ought  to  have  ftruck  from  the  civil  lift  a 
number  of  ufelefs  peniioners,  fuch  for  example,  as  the  groom  of  the 
ftole,  the  mafter  of  the  horfe,  the  mafter  of  the  robes,  the  mailer 
of  the  hawks,  twelve  lords,  and  twelve  grooms  of  the  bed-chf  mberi 
twenty-ifour  preachers  in  his  majeily's  chapel  at  Whitehall,  and  the 
nvet  nnrfts  of  the  prince  of  Wales  and  the  duke  of  Y(vk+.  Inftead 
of  abolilhing  ufelefs  places,  to  difcharge  this  annuity,  Mr.  Pitt 
fqueezed  out  of  the  people  two  millions  and  feven  hundred  thou- 
fand pounds,  which,  with  the  expence  of  colledling  it,  comes  to  at 
leail  three  millions  llerling.  The  extin^ion  of  a  burden  of  one 
hundred  and  eight  thoufand  pounds  per  awtum  has  thus  cod  more 
than  it  is  worth.  At  four  and  an  half /.t  cent,  three  millions  produce 
one  hundred  and  thirty-iive  thoufand  pounds  per  annum  ;  which  11 
itfelf  nineteen  thoufand  pounds  more  than  the  annnifj  ex/ingn^ed. 
Here  we  muft  obferve,  that  ten  per  cent,  is  but  a  moderate  aid  ordi- 
nary profit  on  the  capital  of  ftock,  either  in  huibandry,  commercey 
or  manufaAures.  Hence,  if  thefe  three  millions  had  been  fullered 
to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  pebple  of  Britain,  they  would  have 
afforded  to  the  community  at  large,  at  leail  three  hundred  thoufand 
pounds  per  annum  of  additional  wealth ;  and  perhaps  twice  or  thrice 
that  fum.  The  ilighteft  and  moil  neceilary  taxes,  are,  therefore,  ia 
their  own  nature  very  deftrudive.  When  a  tobacconiil,  or  a  tan. 
ner,  pays  thirty  pounds  of  excife,  he  does  not  merelv  lofe  thirty 
(hillings /cr  iz«M«M,  as  the  legal  intereil  of  his  money  }  out  he  is  like- 

V* 

*  The  following  (latcment  puts  the  matter  in  a  (hort,  and  clear  view. 
InOdtobrr,  1788,  the  value  ot  the  whole  irMtf/M/«{  three  per 

cent,  ((ock  was         -  '•  .  '  £•  lM»4ao,40> 

>Mr.  Pitt,  at  an  expence  of  two  inillioni,f'!ven 
hundred  thoufand  pounds,  had  betore  pur- 
chafcd  Itock  to  the  amount  ot       .        .        £.  3,626,000 
In  April  1786,  before  he  began  to  buy  up  at  all,  the  whole 

three  per  cents,  were  only  at  feveiity  per  cent,    or       -        •         f  17,643,301 
AcTUALiNCRiASior  NATIONAL  DSBT,ovcrand  above 

the  two  millioni  feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  cad  away  ■  ■ 

In  the  purchafe  ot  ftock  ....  004,777.093 

f  In  the  court  and  ci^  calendar,  for  r77{,  eight  of  thefe  liditt,  are  charged  to 

the  >  atiun,  at  falartei  of  each  two  hundred  pounds  per  *mum  j  btfidei  dry  tuufkh 

workwonwn,  racjttfs,  and  ether  lwg|a|t  of  ilit  fsm«  fort. 


wife  prevented  from  the  chance  of  converting  his  capital  of  thiftf 
f)ounds  into  an  augmented  fum  of  thirty-threci  thirty-fix,  or  fortjr 
pounds.    Thus  it  is  evident,  that  every  fum  raifed  from  the  public 
£•  an  impoft,  or  excife,  muft  in  reality  coft  them  ten  percent,  Thisj 
by  the  way»dcmonftrates  the  ralhnefs  of  wars  undertaken  in  defence 
at  a  foreign  trade,  £nce  thefumb  levied  to  fupport  the  ftruggle  are» 
every  farthing  of  them,  drawn  from  the  circuUtion  of  domeftic 
commerce ;  a  commerce  always  more  fafe,  and  very  commonly 
aiofe  profitable,  than  that  which  kings  are  fo  frequently  fightu^g 
for*    A  commercial  war  is  truly  **  ce/iing  our  bread  upon  tie  nmtitrii 
•«  ibiai  *we  may  find  it  after  many  days,"     Now,  as  every  million  of 
powids  raifed  by  government  from  the  people  of  Britain^  is  upon  an 
average,  at  leaft  equal  to  an  annuity  forever,  of  an  hundred  thou- 
fand  pounds,  out  of  the  pockets  of  thofe  who  pay  it,  the  inference 
is,  that  if  Mr.  Pitt,  had  underftood  or  regarded  the  intereft  of  this 
country,  he  never  would  have  undertaken  to  difcharge  a  debt  bear^ 
'  ing  three /^r  rra/.  at  an  expence  often;  or,  as  before  obferved,  an 
annuity  of  one  hundred  and  ei^ht  thou  fand  pounds,  by  paying  a 
capital  of  three  millions,  producing  a  yearly  profit  of  three  nundred 
thoufand  pounds  to  the  holders  of  it.  In  this  way  Mr.  Pitt  pays  off 
the  public  debt.    Since  Odtober  1788,  (locks  have  rifen  prodigi- 
oufly ;  fo  that  the  period  here  chofen  for  the  exambation  of  this 
celebrated  proje^  is,  by  far  the  mod  favourable  that  can  be  taken. 
A  full  account  of  its  fubfequent  hiftory  will  be  given  hereafter.  Mr. 
Pitt  might  as  well  propofeto  empty  the  Baltic  with  a  tobacco  pipe. 
But  let  us  admit  the  cafe,  that  he  at  prefent  had  an  hundred  milli- 
ons in  the  exchequer.    The  difcharge  of  the  public  debt  is,  on  his 
prinfiplesi  abfurd  and  unjuft.    Stocks  would  inftantly  rife  to  an 
nundred;  and  he  begins  perhaps  by  payin?  off  the  twenty-one  milli- 
ons of  three  and  four  per  centst  for  which  Lord  North  a^ually  re- 
ceived but  tavehe  millions.    Thus,  after  giving  as  above  ftated,  five 
and  an  half /^r  cent,  for  a  loan  of  twelve  mulions,  we  difcharge 
that  original  twelve  milh'ons  itfelf,  with  tnuenty-ont  millions.    The 
prefent  Tcheme  for  extinguifhing  the  public  debt  is  thert fore  im- 
practicable, if  it  were  honeft,  and  as  an  a^  of  robbery  againft  our- 
felves.  it  would  be  di(hone(l,  if  it  were  praflicable. 

But,  fuppofin^  that  Mr.  Pitt  had  in  reality  paid  off  nine  millions 
of  debt,  and  leflened  the  public  burdens  of  its  intereft,  yet  for  the 
fake  of  an  impartial  and  latisfadlory  argument,  his  advocates  ought 
to  arrange,  in  an  oppofite  column,  a  lift  of  the  additional  taxes 
which  he  has  impofed,  and  of  the  thoufands  of  families,  whom  fuch 
taxes  have  ruined.*  A  third  column  ftiould  contain  a  lift  of  the 
millions  which  this  minifter  has  wafted  upon  Spanifli  and  Ruffian 

*  In  1713,  the  caxcn  hawkers  and  pedlars  in  England,  produced  in  the  nofi, 
ten  thoufand,  feven  hundred  and  feveoty  three  pounds ;  and  eight  thoufand,  fix  nun- 
dred and  four  ||oundi  of  net  income.  Thus,  one>iifth  of  the  revenue  was  funk  in 
llie  colUAioo.    lo  1 785,  Mr.  Pitt  doubled  the  tax,  aad  in  1 7881  the  total  Mnouil, 


,^-^?«.-^y.-^.wi:«V? 


(   ij   ) 

annamentsi  on  the  unprovoked  and  piraticd  war  againft  Tipoo 
Saib,  on  the  Chinefe  embaify>  the  fucceffive  eleAicms  for  Weftmin- 
fter»  the  creditors  of  the  prince  of  Walesi  and  the  nabob  of  Arcot, 
and  the  Baratrian  fettlement  of  Botany  Bay.  The  pretended  plan 
of  difcharging  the  national  debt,  on  which  Mr.  Pitt  fometimts  ex- 
patiates to  parliament*  for  two  hoars  together^  was  but  a  (brry  trap 
for  popularity;  and  if  **  tht  /wimji  nultitude"  had  been  jBuch 
wifer  than  the  reft  of  their  family,  they  m '«t,  in  a  moment,  have, 
ieen  through  and  defpifed  the  artifice.  T  j  debts  of  Britun  never 
will  be  paid ;  they  never  can  be  paid ;  and  in  the  prefent  way  of 
difcharging  them,  they  never,  in  Juftice  ought  to  be  paid.  The 
hardinefs  of  the  father  of  this  delufion,  exceeds  any  thing  that  wa« 
ever  heard  of;  becaufe  his  arguments  and  aflumptions  are.  as  above 
explained,  in  a  ftate  of  hoftility  with  the  multiplication  table ;  and 
becaufe,  though  religious  impoiftors  have  pretended  to  work  fiilfe  mi- 
racles, yet  noi.<;  even  of  them  has  ever  aflerted  that  two  and  two 
make  five.  But  though  thefe  debts  will  never  be  extinguilhed  by  the 
attempts  of  the  minifter,  they  have  certainly  pafled  the  meridian  of 
their  exiftence.  Had  the  war  with  America  lafted  for  two  years 
longer,  Britain  would  not  at  this  day  have  owed  a  (hilling ;  and  if 
we  (hall  per(ift  in  ru(hing  into  carnage,  with  our  wonted  contempt 
of  all  feeling  and  refled^ion,  it  muft  ftill  be  expeftcd,  that,  accord^' 
ing  to  the  praAice  of  other  nations,  a  fponge  or  a  bonfire  will  fi> 
ni(h  the  game  of  funding. 

What  advantage  has  refulted  to  Britain  from  fuch  ince(rant  fcenes 
of  prodigality  and  of  blGod(hed  ?  In  the  wars  of  1 6S9,  and 
1 70Z,  this  country  was  but  an  hob^y-horfe  for  the  emperor  and 
the  Dutch.  The  rebellion  in  1 7 1 51  was  excited  by  the  defpotic 
infolenceof  the  whigs.  George  the  Firft  purchafed  Bremen  and 
Verden,  from  the  king  of  Denmark,  to  whom  thev  did  nd|i belong. 
This  pitiful  and  dirty  bargain  produced  the  Spaniih  war  of  1718, 
and  a  fquadron  dilpatched  for  fix  different  years  to  the  Baltic.  Such 
exertions  coft  us  an  hundred  times  more  than  thefe  tj^uagmire  duchies 
are  wortfai  even  to  an  elector  of  Hanover;  a  diitindtton  which  on 
this  bufinefs  becomes  nece(rary,  for  as  to  Britain,  it  was  never 
pretended,  that  we  could  gain  a  farthing  by  fuch  an  acquifition*. 
In  1727,  the  nation  forced  the  fame  George  into  a  war  with  Spain, 
which  ended  as  ufual  with  much  mifchicf  on  both  fides.  The  Spa- 
ni(h  war  of  the  people  in  1739,  and  the  Auftrian  fubfidy  war  of  the 
crown,  which  commenced  in  1741,  were  abfurd  in  their  principles, 

of  it  had  (hrunk  to  J!ve  tbou/anJ,  four  hundred  anifixty-one  pounds.  Of  ihis  fum 
the  net  produce  was  but  ivjo  thoufand,  ont  hundred  and  fcvfity  pounds;  three- fifth* 
of  the  produce  of  the  tax,  were  thus  funk  in  collcAing  it.  This  diabolical  impoft  vnp 
laid  for  the  profefled  purpofe  of  cstirpating  pedlars.  Crowds  of  them  were  reduced 
t«a  ftatc  of  itarving.  The  tax  hath  iince  been  repealed.  Vid.  fome  account  of  it 
in  the  hiftoryofthepyblic  revenue,  Parti  11.  chap.  3. 

*  Thefoliury  mutttringof  PotUethwaite^  in  hit  dictionary,  it  not  worth  oam. 
^ipgMsn  nocftion. 


and  ruinous  in  their  conre(|aences.  At  iisa*  we  met  witli  i;^othiQg  bin^ 
hard  blows.  On  the  continenti  we  began  by  hiring  tht  queen  of 
Hungary  to  fight  her  own  battles  againft  the  king  of  Pruffiat  and 
ten  years  after  that  war  had  endcdi  we  hired  the  kmg  of  Pruflia, 
with  fix  hundred  and  Teventy  one  tboufand  founds  per  amtum,  td 
fight  his  o^n  battles  againft  her.  If  this  be  not  foUyj  what  are  we 
to  call  it  ?  As  to  the  quarrel  of  I756»  "It  was  remarked  by  aU 
•f  Europe,**  fays  Frederick,  *'  that  in  her  difpute  with  Fiaoce» 
^  every  fwnngfiep  tvas  on  the  fidt  of  England'*  By  feven  years  of 
iSghtingi  and  ah  additional  debt  of  feventy- two  millions  fterling, 
Dve^fecured  Canada ;  but  had  Wolfe  and  his  army  been  driven  ftoni 
1^  heights  of  Abraham,  our  grandfons  might  have  come  too  early 
to  bear  of  an  American  revolution.  As  to  this  event,  the  circum- 
fiances  are  too  fliocking  for  refle6^ion.  At  that  time  an  EngKdi 
woman  had  difcovered  a  remedy  for  the  canine  madnefs,  and  Tre- 
^derick  advifes  a  French  correfpoiident  to  redtmmend  this  mdicine  to 
the  vfe  of  the  parliament  of  England t  as  they  mujl  certainly  heave  iieefi 
bitten  br a  mad  dog,'        /  /  .. 

In  the  quarrels  of  the  continent  we  fhould  concern  ourfelves  but 
Kttle  ;  for  in  a  defenfive  war,  we  may  fafely  clefy  all  the  nations  o^ 
£urop<u  When  the  whole  civilized  world  was  embodied  ulfider  th^ 
lianners  of  Rome,  the  moft  diftinguifhed  of  her  cdnatierors,  at  (he 
head  of  thirty  thoufand  veterans,  difembarked  for  a  tecond'time  oh 
the  coaft  of  Britain.  The  face  of  the  country  was  covered  with  a 
ibreft,  and  the  folitary  tribes  Were  divided  upon  the  old  (jueiftioh 
'Wb»Jhall  be  king?  The  idand  couM  hardly  hav6  attaihed  to  a  tweh** 
tiethpart  of  its  prefeht  population,  yet  by  hb  own  account,  the  in- 
vader found  a  retreat  prudent,  -  Qr  perhaps  neceHary.  i^outh-Britain 
Was  afterwards  fubje6ted,  but  this  acquifitJon  wa»  the  talk  of 
tnore  th^  thirty  years.  Every  village  was  bought  with  the'  blood' 
of  the  legions.  We  may  confide  in  the  moderation  of  4  Roman  hif- 
torian,  w  henrjie  is  to  defcribe  the  difaftcrs  of  his  countrymen.  In  a 
fingle  revolt,  feventy  thoufand  of  the  ufuirpers  were  extirpated  • 
and  fift}-,  or,  as  others  relate,  feventy  ^houfand  foldiers  perilhed  in 
the  courle  of  a  Caledonian  campaign.  Do  the  mailers  of  modem 
Europe  underfiatid  the  art  of  war  better  than'Severus,  and  Agfico-' 
la,  and  Julius  Caefar?  Is  any  combination  of  human  power  to  be 
compared  with  the  talents  and  the  r^fouices  6f  the  Roman  emfnre? 
If  the  naked  Scots  of  the  firft  century,  refilled  and  vanquiihed  the 
conquerors  of  the  fpecies,  what  have  we  to  fear  from  any  ahtago- 
nifl  of  this  day  ?  On  fix  months  warning  we  could  muller  ten  or 
twelve  hundred  thoufand  militi».  Yet,  while  the  defpots  of  Gei> 
many  were  fighting  about  a  fuhurb,  Ihe  natioti  has  fubmitted  to 
tremble  for  its  exifience,  and  the  bloflbms  of  domeftic  happincfs 
have  been  blade d  by  crimps,  and  fubOdies*  and  prefs-gatigs^  and 
^cife  a^lfi.  Our  political  and  commercial  fyftema  ffre  evichently 
nonfenfe.  We  pouefs  Mithin  this  finale  iAwnd,  every  prodiiAirm 
both  of  art  and  nature,  which  is  neccMry  for  the  moft  comfortable 


ei]^78MtttpUife;j«tf0ft^fi|]ieoft0fcaii4fiig»rj  and  tobacetv 
find  a  few  other  jldpicaMe  IvmmriitH  w*  hm€  aftibd  into  aa  aby6  of 
tuet  and  of  |>loo().  Tht  boaftcd  vtwut  eCosr  iradtf*  and  d)t  ^r- 
nb  and  pabUc  (kbtt  whi^  mfad  '^  M^«  aanaeiind  the  fcai dtf 
of  bread,  and  eviea  of  giafty  at  kdl  thice  huodied^  um. 

Then  u  m  Um  «*•'»  M%  fayf  VifgUi  tlmm  thtU  $kt  toMrivtr  tg 
diathJhM  ftr^  fy  hit  •wmfitatage^.  We  havt fafiitiQd  m%m 
proportion  to  what  we  have  iaffidtod.  As  to  the  flaH||^ter  ofa«t 
countryiq^  in  time  of  war»  George  Chaliiien»  £fi|*  dM^ftt  it  in  « 
ftyle  perfeaiy  (uf^ble  to  the  uadcrftandiag  and  tht  cottleieBce  of  i 
inodem  Haferman.  1  he  Britifli  ariflocracy  eenttder  tht  refl  of  iha 
nation,  as  a  eommpdity  booght  and  fold ;  and  if  we  itqntfed  abla^ ' 
lute  oviidence  of  thii  truth,  here  is  a  fuU  atteftatinn*  *^  If  ititfl 
f<  eafy,"  fays  Mr.  Chaknen  ff  tocakoktc  theiwimibeM  who  dial* 
"  th^  cainp,  or  the  battle,  more  than  would  peri&  fcooi  «witfi  H 
(<  fboi  vice  in  the  hamlet  or  city.  //  u  fiftf  en/ihtiam  mat  tht 
f*  induftrioiis  ate  too  wealthy  and  independent  to  covet  the  piftaace 
<5  of  the  (bidier,  or  to  eourt  the  dangers  of  the  fulor ;  and  thoagh 
<!  tf>e  j^jfahm  Itver,  or  the  refib^t  vagmtrtt  ma^  have  looked  tog  re*^ 
ff  fugo  in  the  ariny  or  the  fleet,*  it  may  admit  of  ibme  doabt  ho# 

*  During  the  wife  difpute  about  Falkland's  Iflandt,  which  were,  in  vaikto  this 
cotintr^;  bel6w  the  power'of '  figures,  a  workman  in  London  was  returning  one 
<e«emng  to   hir  hmilj  with  his  weekly  wagei.     He  #as   apprehended  by  « 
prefs.gang»  and  caft  into  tK«  hold  of  a  tender.    Hk  hndloidt  and  (bmcMhef  cte^ 
ditorsk  hewd  of  whiit  they  called  his  etopement.    They  Mxed  on  hia  fomttuilt,  aad 
his  wife  and 'child  weretumedto  the  door.    Within  a  few  days  after*  the  roolhev 
was  d^ivered  of  a  fecond  child,  in  a  garret.    When  weaknefs  permitted  her  to  rife* 
(he  left  her  two  naked  child^n,  andwaiideied  into  the  ftieets,  at  a  commdn  beg|i^. 
Inftead  of  obtaining  affiftanoet  Aewas  reproached  as  an  abandoned  vagabond,    hi' 
defpair,-  (he  went  into  a  (hopi  and  attempted  to  carry  oflfa  fmall  piece  of  liben.  iht) 
wasfeieedv  tried*  and  condemned  to  be  hanged.    In  her  defence,  (he  woman  faidij 
that  (he  had  lived  creditably  and  ha^py,  till  a  prefs-gang  robbed  her  of  her  hu(baad#  j 
land  in  h7m>  of  all  iiieans  to  fupport'  herfelf  and  he^  family ;  and  that  in  attempting 
toejothe  her  new-fcarn  infant,  (ne  perhaps  did  wrong,  as  (he  did  not,  at  that  tim^ 
know  what  (he  did.  -  The  parifh  ofRcei's,  and  other  witnefles,  bore  ttiKmony  to  thd 
truth  of  her  averment,  but  aUtonopurpofa.  She  was  ordered  for  Tyburn.  Though' 
her  milk,  if  (he  hadany^  mu(t  have  been  fermented  intopoifonr  itfaemsthat  no.> 
body  condefcended  to  feek  a  nurfe  for  her  child.     The  hang^itiui  dragged  her  fucking 
infant  frdm  her  breufi^  when  Be  ^rattened  the  cord  about  her  neck.     On  the  13th  of 
May,  1777,  Sir  William  Meredith  mentioned  this  aif^ilinatioit  in  the  Hou(e  of 
Commons.     **  Never,"  faid  he*  **  was  there  a  touler  murder  committed  againft 
**  the  law,  thand)atofthiswomanbythelaw."^Thefe  were  the  fruitt  of  what 
Engh(hmen  call  their  inefiimaUe  privilege  tfa  trial  by  jury. 

It  would  not  be  diflicult  to  hll  a  large  volume  with  decifions  of  this  ftamp,  though 
there  has  not  perhaps  occurred  anyiingle  cafe  which  was,  in  all  its  circumftancei,  fe 
khfolutely  infernal.     In  this  introduAion,  we  have  feen  a  (ketch  of  the  hiftoty  of ' 
certain  monarchs  and  minifters,  feme  of  whom  arci  at  this  day,  held  up  as  the  poll 
tical  faviours  of  Britain.     The  reader  may  compare  the  wanton  flaughter  of  muki» 
tudes,  and  the  profligate  expenditure  of  millions  with  the  guilty  as  it  was  termed,  of  ; 
Mary  Jones.     He  will  then  judge  which  of  the  two  parties  beit  deferved  a  halter. 

The  particulars  in  this  note  ar^itradcdfrom  a  letter  to  Charles  Jenkinfon,  E(^* 
(ccretary  at  war,  by  Mr.  John  Clark,  traoflatM  of  the  Calitdonian  BanU.  Th«lcU«r^ 
waa  prtat«dstI«obiii|h,  in  lyM. 


I  I»  ) 


0^ 


M 
U 


tt 


far  the  giving /iv^  employment  to  both,  (viz.  that  of  commit- 
ting robbery  and  murder,  aind  of  getting  themfeWtM  Itnocked  on 
the  head  for  it,)  tAky  Aot  have  freed  their  pariihes  from  di/pde' 
tudtf  and  from  burdens.    It  i»^  the  i^peucet  more  than  the  fi^'gff' 
"  ter  of  modem  war  which  debilitate  every  community.***    TTib 
paragraph  ex^Mns  the  memorable  epithet  which  has  been  beftowed 
en  the  Britifh  natiou.    For  if  the  foldiers  and  failors  of  the  firitiih 
army  and  navy  had  been  trarisformed  by  the  wand  of  Circe  into 
llbeS)  or  e||n  rats,  it  is  imjpoffible  that  this  writer  could  have  fpoken 
Irim  greater  indiffirrence  ot  their  extirpation.    He  confiders  it  as  a 
mece&iy  drcumftance,  that  a  |reat  part  of  the  common  people 
wtkv/k  perilh  from  want  or  from  vice,  unlefs  they  are  difcharged  in 
the  form  af  armies  on  the  reft  of  the  world.  The  remedy  is  a  thou- 
fimd  times  worfe  than  the  difeafe;  and  it  would  be  more  humane  to 
l^e  a  premium  to  poor  people  for  ftifline  their  infants  in  the  cradle. 
i;«  If  lam  a  coward,"  iays  Jaffier,  "  who  made  mefo  ?"  What  but 
the  mi(erable  conftrudtion  of  our  government  can  have  produced 
fuch  a  horrid  necelTity  ?  When  ten  millions  and  anhalf  fterling««r 
itmtmH  are  due,  and  rouft  be  paid  to  the  creditors  of  the  nation,  be- 
fides  a  million  to  the  officers,  who  collet  it,  when  two  millions 
ftei^g^ are  beftowed  on  the  church  of  England,  and  a  much  larger 
'Cum  on|)enfionersof  all  kinds,  it  is  impomble,  that  we  fhouldnot 
find  in  the  oppofite  fcale,  a  correfpondent  balance  of  want  and 
wretchcdnefs.  wl]|en  you  raife  one  end  of  a  beam,  the  other  end  muft 
fink  in  proportion.    When  you  give  fix  or  eight  hundred  thoufand 
|)oands/fr  annumt  to  a  fingle  family,  and  its  trumpery  of  a  houfe- 
jhold,  you  reduce,  with   mathematical  certainty,  tmrty  or  forty 
thoufand  families  to  poverty.    It  is  not  difficult  to  fee  that  fuch  a 
political  progrefs  muft  end  in  a  political  explofion.    Mr.  Hume,  af- 
ter adverting  to  the  extremely  frivolous  objeA,  as  he  calls  it,  of 
the  war  in  1756,  makes  this  reflexion.    <*  Our  late  delufionshave 
"  much  exceed  any  thing  known  tn  hiftory,  not   excepting 
"  even  the  crufades.    For  I  fuppofe  there  is  no  demonftration  fo 
"  clear,  that  the  Holy  Land  was  not  the  road  to  paradife,  as  there 
**  is,  that  the  endlefs  increafe  of  national  debts  is  the  dire6i  road  to 
'*  NATIONAL  RUIN.     But  haviuff  uow  completely  reached  that  goal, 
**  it  is  needlefs  at  prefent  to  look  back  on  the  psw.  It  will  be  found 
"  in  the  prefent  year  (17*76))  that  all  the  revenues  of  this  ifland, 
*<  north  of  Trent,  and  weft  of  Reading,  are  mortgaged  and  antici- 
**  pated  forever.'*    He  concludes  with  this  remark.    "  So  egregi- 
"  ous  indeed  has  been  our  folly,  that  we  have  even  loft  ali  title  ti 
"  compajjlon  in  the  numerous  calamities  that  are  awaiting  us."f 

This  pamphlet  confifts  not  of  fluent  declamation,  but  of  curious 
authenticated  and  important  faf^s,  with  a  few  (hort  obfervations  in- 
terfperfed,  which  feemed  neceflary  to  explain  them.    The  reader 

*  Csmparative  Eftimatc,  p.  14a.  * 

f  Hifteiy  of  England,  vol.  Vth.  p.  475,  London  oAavo  «ditioii,  177S, 


wi)l  meet  wli^'nQ  mourhfi^p^-;  to  the  nttmory  of  aimmd  tyx  trt" 
enmal  parliimeoitr}  for  wl^b  the  mai^naie  menfuch  as  their  pre- 
deceflbrs  have  aimnft  always  been^  it  is  of  fmsdl  concern  whether 
they  hold  their  places  for  Ixfei  or  bot  for  a  finsleday*  Some  of  our 
prejeAors  are  ot  opinion^  that  to  fliorten  the  duration  of  parliament 
would  be  an  ample  remedy  for  all  our  grievances.  The  advantages 
of  a  popuUr  elecUon  have  lUcewife  been  much  e^ttolled.  ^  Yet  am  ac- 
quaintance with  Thucydides^  or  Plutarch,  or  Giiicciardipiy  or  Mi>- 
chiavel,  may  tend  to  calm  the  raptures  of  a  r«pubUam  apoAk^'^ 
The  plan  of  nniverfal  fufiPirages  has  been  loudly  recommended  \>f 
the  duke  of  Richmond ;  and,  on  the  1 6th  of  May  1783,  that  no- 
bleman, feconded  bv  Mr.  Home  Tooke,  and  Mr.  Pitt,  was  fittidff 
in  a  tavern,  compoung  advertifements  o^  reformation  for  the  newik 
pa^rs.  The  times  are  chaiiged ;  but  had  this  plan  been  ad<mted» 
It  IS  poffible  that  we  (hould  at  this  day,  have  looked  back  w^  re- 
gret, on  the  humiliating  yet  tranquil  defpotifm  of  a  ScotSi  or  « 
Comilh  borough.  ^  / 

The  ftyle  of  this  work  is  concife  and  plain ;  and  it  is  hq)ed  that 
it  will  be  found  fufficiently  refpe^iful  to  all  parties.  The  queftion 
to  be  decided  is,  are  we  to  proceed  with  the  war  fyftem }  Are  wei 
in  the  progrefs  of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  embrace  five  th^^fand 
frefli  taxes,  to  fquander  a  fecond  five  hundred  millions  fUy^l^r  and 
to  extirpate  thirty  millions  of  people  i 

'\  ■  ■*;■   ■■■  ^■■ 

Edinivugh,  14th  September,  1793. 


■■^m 


■#|l«*.= 


'4*^. 


L^ 


t  .V  1.L  „  ,  .niiiimJiu. 


■ifw 


THE 


rOtlTICAL    PROGRESS 


jot 


BRITAIN. 


■.:t- 


■»ii*i 


^ 


CHAP.     I. 


'Tufkfmid  in^rtanee  •/  Sfott  tfpfitfcHtalhfet  iu  parliamemt-^—Parcbmeia 

ji  itiwj-   jCuedotet  of  the  Scats  exeiff^Windanv  tax-^Extru&sfram 

'■y\0i  mtabentk  report  to  the  lortb  of  the  treafifly--^errimgifbery--^alt 

.  -^   mi  coal  iutits — Dreadful  opfrejfitm'— Summary  of  the  pitolkfervkes  of 

^^ikefrhiceofmJes, 

THE  people  of  Scotland  aie*  on  all  occafions,  fboUih  enoogh  to 
j^tereft  themfelv^  in  the  good  or  bad  fortune  of  an  Englilh 
Afinie  minifter.    Lord  North  once  pofleffed  this  frivolous  venera- 
J^on>  which  has  fince  been  transferred  to  Mr.  William  Pitt ;  and 
'^  Scots  in  general,  have  long  been  remarked,  as  the  mod  fuhmiA 
five  and  omtented  fubjeAsof  the  Britifli  crown.    It  is  hard  to  fay 
«hat  (^tigattons  have  excited  that  univerfal  and  fuperlative  ardour 
l^hyvXtft  fpt  which}  till  verv  lately,  we  have  been  fo  ftrikingly 
dtfiUngoiflied.    Mr.  Brinfley  Sihcridan  obferved,  fome  time  ago,  in 
|be  houfe  of  commons*  that  the  Scots  nation  bathjuft  at  much  inttrefi 
the  goverameat  of  Britain,  as  the  miners  of  Siberia  have  in  the  P9- 
'^vemmemt  ofRsifia,    The  aflertion  was  at  once  the  moft  humiliating 
and  wdl  rounded.    A  public  revenue  of  eleven  hundred  thoufand 

EMindi  ftonually  is  eztraAed  from  North- Britain.    Ofthisfum,  at 
aft  fix  handled  thpufand  pounds*  are  lodged  in  the  exchequer  of 

*  HiAoiyofdirpuUic  revenue.  Part  iit.  chap.  6.  The  ftatement  fill*  four 
fuartopagct;  itappean  to  be  candid,  and  aa  anthrntic  and  accurate,  at  the  nature 
•f  ^  materials  would  admit.  Seme  yean  ago,  Sir  lobn  Sinclair  tranfmitted  a  let- 
ter on  thta  fubje4^  to  a  focietjr  io  Scotland ;  and  1  have  heard  Scotfmen,  fo  funk  'm 
the  mireof  Hanoterian  fupmtiion,  (bdefiided  below  tbeie^ftx  tiat  fer(/b,  as  lo 
,  «tQfMi«  him  for  p refuviptim  In  doioi  lb. 


*>■'■/■ 


lill  not  nff  decottlf ,  re- 

l^tatirftanclred  thoufand 

^thboiand  poands  per  m- 

%htch  they  btv^  nothing 

'^n    abfoibing  fix  httn- 

.  Auwld  btt  a  neat  dcil 

loicttt  is  likewiieirerjr  iia*l 

I  peoplet  t\»  iitfft  ab- 


England,  a  coontrf^that  has  it 
proached  us  fdr  povertj^.  It  is  ill 
people  (hould  fubmit  to  pay  ele« 
num  to  a  government^  in  the  di^edttcMi  < 
to  fay.    It  is  very    natural  that    t 
dred  thoafand  pounds  a  year  of  ourj 
richer  than  ourfelves;  and,  at  the  fame 
tural,  that  they  (hould  defpife  the  Scotd 
jcft  and  contemptible  of  the  fpecies.      I  ^^ 

To  Enelahd  we  were  for  many  centres  »  hoitile>  tfid  wt  are' 
ftill  confidered  by  them  as  a  foreign,  anlin  effisft  -a  coaqnefiHl  taif 
tion.  It  is  true,  that  an  extremely  diminatfe  part  of  usartfalRsiedt»l| 
eleA  almoft  every  twelfth  member  in  thennifli  houfe  (rf'ccHatimohs;  ■ 
but  thefe  reprefentatives  have  no  title  to  Arte,  or  a^  in  ^YepiiraCe 
body.    Every  ihitute  proceeds  upon  thef 
the  whole  compound  aflembly.    What 
perfons  accomplifli,  when  oppofed  to 
They  feel  the  abfolute  inngniiicance  of  tl 

cordingly.  An  equal  number  of  elbcrnHfiiaiii,  placed  once  for  ^ 
on  the  minifterial  benches,  would  be  leJRxpeiifive  t<r  lovemmenty 
and  juft  about  as  manageable.  ThefeJntl  every  minifterial  tool  c^ 
the  fame  kind,  may  be  called  expenfive,  W^S^^^  thofe  who  are  oblised 
to  Ajp',  muft  be  underftood  to/ell,*  ixMoGi  who  ranee  themfel^ea 
under  the  banners  of  oppofition,  can  c|p^%e  confidered,  as  having 
rated  their  voices  too  high  for  a  parcteeHb  the  parliamentary  auc- 
tion. *  « 

There  is  a  fafhionablephrafe,  themiikiltfihe  county t  whieh  I  cail 
n^ver  hear  pronounced  without  a  am  oi  indignatio.    CompareiT 
with  fachpaiit/ch  even  pimping  is  ^e^ble.    Our  fupreme  co^ 
have  indeed  interpofed,  though  v^  feebly,  to  extirpate  wl 
Scotland    9re  called  parchment  ^aJwy^and  have  thus  preventiP  * 
crowd  of  unhappy  wretches  from  ppfsuig  into  an  abyfs  of  WJ^^.^^ 
But,  in  other  refpefts,  their  dec»ft  is  of  nd  confequf — 


MOrity  otth^  fbieet  «||| 
[t^it^ipre,  can  fbrty-fivi 
Ifed^nd  thineen  j  ^ 
ttd^ion,  and  bdiave  aKSfn^ 


inoe^ 


moft  certainly  cannot  be  of  the 
who  are  our  eledors,  and  r^pi 
are  repreiented  at  all.    Our  me 
eeptions,  are  the  mere  fatcUiteSj 
ward  to  ferve  his  moft  oppreffiv 

It  feems  to  have  been  long 
tors  of  our  fouthem  mailers, 
eve|y  manufa^ure  in  this  coi 
Has  any  body  fore;ot  the  fi 
which  the  ^cottiih  diftilleries 
tru^on  ?  Has  not  the  mam 


left  concern  to  thycountry, 
Ititives;  or  indeed, Jwethet  we 
BIS,  wid  fome  ve/«ngular  ex- 
thennilftorof^ay;  and  for- 

crin^nal  i^rpnes. 

ximc^'thcn^^  ^[f* 

extirpay,  ai/quicfcly  as  poiMMe, 

y,  tiSanpfctes  with  th#lp>0wn. 

-_j1ous  iroich  of  national  faith,  by 

ye  !»eeh  bSight  to  the  verge  of  de(i 

n^ofiiarcn  «Jfo  *>««"  driven,  by 

D 


as  Auefted  yi  hii  conftituenti,  to  attend  to  their  in- 
Jl  •ndiourinAniaioni  too»'ftMh«.  "  1  hav« 
iljvaM"^ PJitieal DihMlfyhiUt  vol.  I.  p.  aSo.  * 


•  A  worthy  reprefentatirc  was  i 
tereft  in  parliament.  **  Damn  y^ 
»ou  a B  T  you,  and  I  will  1 1  if  foa. "  P^M«»i  DIJqt4fitk>t** 


Kfcft- 


every  engine  of  judicial  tortareA  the  laft  pang  of  Hi  exiftence?  Have 
not  the  manufa^urcrs  of  paper  Jnnte^  callicoeS}  niidt  liquorti  and 
glafi,  been  harraiTed  by  the  ml  ▼exittoos  methods  of  exafUng  the 
revenue  f  methods  equivalent  §  ah  addition  of  ten^  or  Tometimes  an 
hundfed  percexu  of  uie  duty  Jiyalde.  Let  us  look  around  this  in- 
fuUcd  coantryy  and  fayi  oiivhpt  manufa^re>  except  the  linen> 
lanation  has  not  fattened  its  m(Ay  fangs. 

In  the  excife  annals  of  Scqpndf  that  year  which  expired  on  the 
th  of  July  179O1  producedlbr  the  duties  on  foap,  fixtyfive  thm- 
^  xni  fmndH    On  the  cth  ofluly  1 79 1 1  the  annual  amount  of  thefe 
diities  was  otAy  forty-five  taUand pounds ;  and  by  the  fame  hopeful 
'^^irefsy  in  three  years  mJe  at  fartheft*  our  miniHers  will  enjoy 
plrafurc  of  extirpating  avanch  of  trade,  once  flourifliing  and  ex- 
tiMive.   Two  men  were  foft  years  ago  executed  at  Edinburgh  for 
flying  theexcife-office  (^Arenty-feven  pounds ;  butofl^nders  may 
yib«!  naiMd*  who  ten  thoufanJtimes  better  deferve  puniihment.    We 
^  ,ve  fipQ  that  oppreffive  Utes,  andamoft  tyrannical  method  of 
enforcuig  them>  have»  in  mingle  year,  deprived  the  revenue  of 
twenty  thoufand  pounds,  inlpne  branch  only,  and  have  compelled  a 
crowd  of  indbftitous  iamilielo  feek  refuge  in  England;  and  then 
our  legiflator8,to  borrow  tbcloneft  language  of  George  Rous,  £fq. 
**  have  the  infolence  to  call  lU  go v  e  r  n  m  en  t." 

By  an  oriental  monopdy,  %  have  obtained  the  wtexampled  pri- 
nfiUf^e  of  buyine  a  pound  of  tl  fame  tea,  for  fix  or  eight  (hillings, 
with  which  otner  nations  wAki  eagerly  fapfJy  us  ai  half  that 
price*.  Nay,  we  have  to  tH|k  our  piefent  illuftrious  minifter, 
tluf  this  vegetable  has  been  recfted  from  a  price  ftillmore  extrava- 
jgaiit.  His  pppttlarity  began  bithe  commutation  a£l.  Wonders 
irere  promifed.  wonders  were  eab^ed,  and  wonders  have  happen. 
A  nation,  confiding  of  inel  who  call  themfelves  enlighteuedf 
Gbnfented  to  buUdup  their  Indows,  that  they  might  enjoy  the 
^r  f  fipfHOg  in  tM  dark  |cup  of  tea,  ten  per  cenu  cheaper 
wan  l^iiis  .ty ;  though  ftill  fifty^r  cent,  dearer  than  its  intriiific 

Sucha0l^egk)rioos  confequeafes  of  our  ftupid  veneration  fotr  3 
mmilter,  aniouf  abfurd  fubmiffiotto hb  ^pncious didates f ' 

Qeneral  aiKrtions  unfupported  \  proper  evidence  defei  *  'm%.. 
little  attcntion.Nl  (hall  therefore  la%fore  the  reader  fomc  extrafts 
froin  a  book  wA»i(hed  in  1786  ttDr.  James  Anderfon.    This 
work  IS  hanily  kao*n,  yet  every  friel  to  the  piofperity  of  Scotland 
ought  to  be  iRa.-iiatcly  iicquainted  wit  its  contents.  ^ 

In  1785,  thisfSi  crft^n  was  emolckd  by  the  lords  ofthetiSfu- 
ry  to  make  a  imv  .hmw  Jie  Hebridrtand  weftern  coafts  of  Scot- 
land, for  the  purpo  V  <ji  afcertaini«g  \t  bed  methods  to  promote 
the  filhencs  aiiCi  ihe  c^^nfequent  impniement  of  that  part  of  the 

•InThltaddfhij,  tn  Uche^r  by6fty^4?'  *«  «  Wintargh.    AtC^- 
<«w«V»  ««^  A«  A»iw«i »  fcvwir  «X  tiic  «iw|^  M  niy  gw«t. 


mt 


5?  Have 
In,  and 

Iking  the 
nmes  an 

I  this  in- 
linen> 

on  the 
\vf  thm- 
ofthefc 
hopeful 

II  enjoy 
and  ex- 

Turgh  for 
lers  may 
tit.  We 
ethod  of 
enue  of 
ipelled  a 
uid  then 
►us,  Efq, 

fied  pri. 
fliillings, 
^If  that 
miniftcr, 
cxtrava- 
Wondcrt 
happen. 
lightened, 
•njoy  the 
cheaper 
intriiliic 

or  foif  r?      * 

rs? 

.J,  .  :, ,. 

extnidis 
u  Thit 
Scotland 

etrSifa^ 
af  Scot- 
promote 
of  the 

AtG^. 


(on  executed  withthit  aido^ 
I  he  has  long  beendifti|gui(hcd. 
I  of  this  lature,  to  give  an  an»- 
rparticalars  willferve  to  (hew 
[iflanJ?  of  Scotia.  ^  groan  un» 
jr.  Anderfon  has  printed  part 


countnr.^  This  commUBoii  Dr. 
end  fidelity  vf  inveftigationfor' 
It  is  impoffible>  in  a  ihort  peri^mi 
lyfis  of  the  volume ;  but  the  fe ' 
that  the  weftem  coafts  and  the  wc 
der  the  rooft  enormous  oppreffion. 

of  a  report,  dated  the  14th  of  July  185,  and  made  by  a  commit- 
tee of  the  Houfe  of  Commons.  Thel|ive  an  account  of  the  cuftom- 
houfe  duties  collected  for  ten  fucceffiwein,  in  nine  counties  of  Sco|»  \ 
land,  viz.  Arr  y  V',  J  avemefs, Sutheriai  Caithnefs,  OdkneytShetl 
Cromarty  1  '«ti  nd  Moray.  Thi  ipence  of  c<dle^Hon  for  theft 
ten  Yiiinir-:.m  luc  ill  of  January  i^,  to  die  jrft  of  Deceaibsirj 

I  •'84,    v,'^^ 

^.  f  1,679:13:  W 
1:  f| 


1  he  grofs  phxluce 

Payments  exceed  the  produce  by 


50»737- 


94«  »«r7!* 


The  committee  add,  that  « the  Jive  little  reafon  to  expei^ 


**  more  ftvourable  refult  from  thei 
I  w  than  the  cuftoms."    The  authoi 
excife  had  fince  been  publifhed,  ai 
OMT/M*.    But  this  is^rot  the  worft 
a  part  of  the  expence  of  cruifers 
tomsin  Scotland.    On  an  avera 
1785,  this  charge  amounted  to 
venty.fivc  pounds,  twelve  (hi' 
Dr.  Andeifon,  **  we  fuppofe 
«  (hould  be  ((ated  to  the  acco^ 
«*  tioned,  which  /  conceivf 
**  pence  on  this  head^would 
'*  thirty-feven  pounds^  (ixtce^ 
de  is  very  near  equal  to  the 
thefc  nine  counties.    If  we 


juiries  refpefting  the 
ijoins,  that  an  accotnt  oft 
vfirmd  the  truth  0f  thii 
•r  there  is  likewife  to  be  a 

?xd  under  the  botxcl  of  ( 
ve  years,  precedu^  the  \ 
thoufand  dgnt  hundred  u 
and  fpur-pence.    **%** 
one  half  of  the  above  tx\ 
of  the  nine  counties  above-^ 
^M  taider  fnfortkth  thitn  the 
four  thoafaml,  nine  hundred 
iUtngs  andtwo-pence."t  Tlui  l.. 
»le  Annual  prodoc^  of  the  cuftoatt 

.  »!.-   jr/r^5 r. !• *    . 


.. « ..^.    ..  „^  -  the  difierent  foms  u  rapnd  nn.., 

bers,  vcr:  may  fay  that  the  Js  Prdduce  of  the  coftoriBlitive  than 
iand  pounds,  the  expence  iolledmg  thenk  five  thoofiaid  ponndr 
and  the  expence  of  craifer#  pcevent  fmuggling,  fe  thm; ' 
Thus  in  the  courfe  of  tenfni  government  ctak/M^  fifty 
fand  pounds,  by  deburfinpe  hundred  thoHfiiiid.    llleic 
ly  never  was  (uch  a  Ihafi"*  fyftem  of  ro' 


in  the  annals  of  the 
India  company.    Were 
at  fuch  an  expence,  th 
come  bankrupt;  uul 

^  IntroduAion,  pafe  6j 
fumfrom  the  other,  wt 
t  lbi4,p.  65.^ 


tiM  Spaniards,  or  flheJKiKh  Ea(t. 
whole  mafs  of  BritiftHlip  &aXk£Ui 
ernment  it(elf,  woiilmix  flMMitha 
of  honoar,  andgfCint  of  tk  1 

itaneffarofthtMib  iafiiMlMAiac  tbei 
ih«i««o(Naai.     *^  ' 


i 


M< 


bcr,  and  the  whole  cloud  of  fijbure  vermin,  would  yanifh,  lik^ 
the  cxh^tionsof  a  quagmire,  Jthe  tempeft  of  revd^tionary  yen* 
geance.  «*  A  fa<fi  of  this  natu  J  when  thus  fairly  brought  to  light 
**  cannot  fail  to  ftrike  every  twing  perfon  with  fome  degree  of 
<*  aftonilhment  and  horror.  Tlroud  of  refledlions  here  prefs  upon 
•*  the  mind.  Why  are  thcfe  cirons  oppreffed  with  taxes  when  the 
«*  ftate  is  no  ways  benefited  b  hem?  Why  arethe  other  memben 
"  of  the  community  loaded  w:  burthens,  to  enforce  the  payment 
"  of  thefe  unproductive  taxes  ic  ?  From  what  caufe  does  it  hap- 
«*  pen  that  thefe  people  comp  i  of  taxes,  while  they  pay  next  to 
"nothing?"*  This  mav  be  died  the  infanity  of  defpotifm.  I 
Ihall  now  ftate  from  the  lame  )rk,  a  few  examples  of  the  way  in 
which  this  revenue  is  colledet} 

*'  A  man  in  Skyct  who  h:  got  a  load  of  hortded  fait,  ufed 
*'  the  whole  in  curing  filh,  ve  five  buihels  only,  but  before 
<*  he  could  recover  his  bond  le  found  himfelf  obliged  to  hire  a 
«  boat  and  fend  thefe  five  bi  els  to  Oban,  which  coft  him  up- 
"  wards  of  _/fxY  pounds  expcnc/ 

<*  One  would  imagine,  thatm  a  mzn  paid  the  duty  for  his /alt ,  he 
*<  might  afterwards  do  with  itlhat  he  pleafed  ;  but  this  I  find  is 
'"  not  the  cafe.    Laft  feafon  (i |L,)  a  vefTel  was  fitted  out  in  hafle 
"  at  Aberdeen  to  catch  herriil  that   were  then  on  the  coafts. 

But  as  the  owners  of  that  vefTe^d  no  duty-free  fait,  they  were 

obliged  to  purchafe  fait  that  hS  already  paid  the  duty  ;  but  be- 
"  fore  they  were  allowed  to  carr;^«  ounce  of  this  (alt  to  fea,  they 
**  were  further  obliged  to  give  bofUmr  it^  in  the  fame  form  as  if  it 
"had  been  duty-free  falt.^'|         \ 

"  Again,  in  the  year  1-783,  Milames  M< Donald,  in  Portree  in 
**  Sk  ye,  j^rchafed  from  Leith,  a  quaSty  of  fait  which  had  paid  duty, 
**  and  fnipped  it  by  permit  on  board  sefrel  for  Portree.  It  was  regu- 
**  larly  landed,  and  a  cuftom-houfe  cnficate  returned  for  the  fame. 
**  With  this  fait  he  intended  to  cure  A,  when  he  could  catch  them 
"  in  thoft  feas ;  but  not  having  fouiflan  opportunity  of  ufing  it  in 
'*  the  year  1284,  he  fitted  out,  at  hiAo'vn  expence,  this  feafon 
«•  (1785,)  a  Imall  floop,  toprofecute^fiiheries.  On  board  that 
*<  (loop,  he  put  fome  part  ot  this  fait  vlth  the  permit  along  with 

it.    A  revenue  cutter  fell  ir  with  hii|e(rel,  2XiA  faized  v^el  and 

Jalty  provifions  and  all  together !  "§ 

Tlicre  is  an  excife  duty  upon  foreign  f^  imported  into  the  Weft- 
ern  Iflands,  of  ten  fliillings  /<t  bufhel,  bdUes  a  cuftom-hcufe  trx  of 
about  two  pence  tl.ree  farthings.  The  %ife  duty  is  too  high  to 
be  paid  for  fait  employed  in  the  curing  of  m.  Government  there- 
fore, in  order  to  encourage  the  Britiih  fifhikes,  has  prumifed  to  re- 
mit the  excife  duty.  But  it  is  pofTible  that  le  fait  thus  difburdened 
of  the  ten  (hillings  of  excife>  mij;^ht  be  ap|H|d  to  feme  other  pur- 


ee 


*  Utroduftion  page  65. 
X  Ibid  p.  41, 


+  Report  t.\ 


(    »5 


pofe  than  that  of  curing  fidth  and  in  ti  vny,  the  intended  bounty 
might  be  converted  tntoafource  of  md  againft  the  excife  revenue. 
When  the  legiflaturCj  therefore}  graiih  this indulgeQce,  "all  im. 
(*  porters  of  foreign  fait  were  requirqirft  to  land  it  at  a  cuftom. 
*•  noufe,  where  it  was  to  be  carefully\lighed  by  the  proper  offi- 
"  cerS}  and  the  importer  either  to  pawie  duty>  or  to  enter  ity^r 
"  the  purpofe  of  curing  fijb,  and  in  that  Wei  to  give  bond*  with  two 
".fufficient  fureties,  either  to  pay  the  Icife  duty  of  ten  (hillings 
"  /frbufliel}  otto  account  for  the  fait,  osr  a  penalty  of  twenty  (hil- 
"  lings  per  bufhel.  In  confequence  onis  oond,  he  muft  either 
«  produce  the  fait  itfelfat  thatcuftom-Mk  on  or  before  the  5th  of 
<<  April  thereafter)  or  cured  fifli  in  fuwiuantities  as  are  fufficient 
«  to  exhauft  the  whole  falt>  which  fiih»  I  is  obliged  to  declare  upon 
«  oath,  were  cured  with  the  fait  for  wlh  he  had  granted  bond.  It 
«  is  only  after  all  thefeformS)axn//^Jf0/i&^rr  are  duly  complied 
"  with,  that  the  bond  can  be  got  up ;  Id  t^fe  bonds  if  not  cancel. 
«  led  before  they  fall  due ^  muft  be  reguly  returned  to  the  commiffi. 
*<  oners  of  fait  duties^  by  whom  an  aJn  muft  be  inftamlj  com- 
**  mencedinthe  court  of  exchequer,  ■  recovery  of  the  penalties 
"  incurred  in  the  bonds.    If  any  of  vk  fait  remains  unufed,  a  new 

bond  on  the  fame  termsj  muft  be  yted  for  it,  however  fmall 

the  quantity  may  bC}  nor  can  that  Jf  be  moved  from  the  place 

where  it  is  once  lodgedi  without 

cuftom  houfe»and  another  bond 

fyine,  under  heavy  penalities)  wl 

bond  can  only  be  withdrawn  in  c 

the  cuftora-houfe,  fpecifying  thft  was  there  lodged. 

it  be  ftiifted  from  one  veflel  to  aPicr*  did  both  veftels 


u 
(« 
<( 
it 
u 
u 
u 
it 


(( 

€( 

il 
(( 
(< 


exprefs  warrant  from'  the 

f  ted  by  the  proprietor,  fpeci- 

it  is  to  be  landed ;  which 

:quence  of  a  certificate  from 

Nor  can 
even  hem 
long  to  the  fame  per/on,  vfithout  iov'^cr  from  the  cuftom-houfe, 
and  a  new  bond  granted ;  nor  a  a  Angle  bufliel  of  that  fait)  in 
any  circumftances  be  fold  wi^t  a  new  bond  being  granted  for 
it)  and  a  transfer  of  that  qu  Jt^y  being  made  in  the  cuftom- 
houfe  books."*  This  paflaf paints  in  ftriking  colours,  the 
gloomy  and  ferocious  jealouf)/  Englifti  defpotifm.  An  eternal 
repetition  of  the  word  hond  f  affure  us  that  the  aft  of  parlia- 
ment has  been  diftated  by  thtfry  genius  of  Shy  lock.  Thefc  re- 
gulations are  attended  with /much  expence,  and  intricacy)  and 
fo  great  a  hazard  of  ruinous  |pJ»cS)  that,  in  many  cafes,  they  cor- 
refpond  to  an  abfolute  prohi^n*  In  England)  a  filherman  granti 
bond  but  e«f<';+  adiftinftionjitafcertainsthe  pitiful  malevolence  of 
owxftfter  kingdom.  To  gi\#  proper  comprehenfion  of  all  the  clogs 
with  which  the  Scots  filhed^  and  *^fy  ""l^  are  burdened)  would  re- 

S|uire  feveral  flieets  of  papcJ  A  few  particulars  may  ferve  at  prt- 
ent,  as  a  fpecimen  of  the^ 

•  Rfjort  by  Dr.  Andcrfon,l«  3S« 
i  lUuftr«ti«ni9f  ih*  reporfl«  >7^' 


»6    ) 


'*  If  a  vcflcl  containing;  falls  loft  at  fca,  or  at  the  fiihingt  proof 
"  mttft  be  made  ofits  being  ffloft,  before  the  fait  bond  can  be  re 


the  comirtiflioners  are  fo    fcrupu- 

*,  as  to  render  it  next  to  impoflible 

the  penalty  it  contains."*     Thefc 

ihillings  and  fix  pence.    As  an  in- 

iflionerSi  Dr.  Anderfon  tells  the  tbl- 


"  covered ;  and  in  fome  cai 
•*  lous  with  refpeft  to  this  pr 
♦*  to  recover  the  bond,  or  a\ 
bonds  coft  each  of  themi  fe» 
(lance  of  the  rigour  of  the  cc 
lowing  ftory, 

A  bufs  on  the  fi(hing  ftatii  was  caft  away.  The  mafter  went  to 
a  juftice  of  the  peace  in  thelighbnurhood,  and  made  oath  to  the 
lots  of  his  vefTel,  with  the  fai&c.  on  board,  but  mt  having  faved  bh 
paperSi  he  committed  a  miftle  of  five  or  fix  bufhels  in  dating  the 
quantity  of  fait.  His  depftion,  figncd  by  the  juftice,  was  tranf- 
mitted  to  the  commiflionerwr  recovery  of  the  (alt  bond.  On  ac< 
count  of  the  errort  it  was  rJrned,  to  be  altered.  The  man  then 
went  before  two  juftices,  aJmade  oath  to  the  exa^  quantity.  This 
depofition  was  tranfmitted  ;|ut  returned  again  as  iniufficient,  for 

uld  be  made  before  a  quorum  of 

By    this   time   the  mip-mafter 

y.     Dr.  Anderfon  adds  that  it  was 

ot  either  to  pay  the  penalty    of 

he  fifliing;  as  he  coul4  not  when 

^  at  the  precife  day  of  the  quar- 

^nt  of  a  Ihipwrecked  mariner  from 

!  When  this  tranfad\ion  happened, 

s  a  member  of  that  quintumvirate* 

who  fway  the  excife  fceptre  of  ^rth- Britain. 

**  No  veflel  can  lend  or  givt«ilt  to  any  other  at  the  fiihing  or 
otherwife,  even  though  belongL  to  the  fame  owners,  becaufe  the 
quantity  Ihipped  per  cocquet  iVny  veflel  mud  be  regularly  land- 
ed at  fome  cuftom-houfc  or  otBr,  either  in  fi(h  or  not  ufed  ;  and 
if  it  muft  be  lent,  mud  be  fo  laled  and  bonded  and  again  (hipped 
per  cocquet  anew.  If  lent  othcftfe,  the  fait  and  velTel  are  feiz- 
able."J  This  author  obfcrves,  At  a  bare  lift  of  the  profecutions 
which  have  been  raifed  in  Scotlannl  account  of  the  fait  tax  would 
excite  horror.  The  moft  trifling  n^ake  in  point  of  form  is  fuffici- 
ent  for  reducing  an  induftrious  iami4to  beggary,  yet  in  England, 
when  the  committee  of  filheries  requlda  lift  of  the  profecutions 
that  had  been  raifed  in  that  country  f4|e  the  inftitution  of  this  law* 
the  return  wasonly  oni.§ 

In"'confequence  of  fo  harfh  a  fyftem,|klt  is  fmuggled  in  immenfc 
quantities  from  Ireland,  where  the  dut;,l8  but  three-pence /fr  bufti- 
el.  A  pcrfon  confeffed,  that,  in  a  finip  year,  he  imported  into 
one  of  the  weftern  iflands,  nine  hundred  J^ferenty  tons  offalti^\i\c]\ 
is  equal  to  thirtj-tigkt  thoujand  eight  hundm  and  ninety  ^ig^r/^^  Scve- 


the  law  requires  that   it 
juftices    at  their  quarter  /; 
had  gone  to  fea  to  the  fill 
m  thoujand  to   one  if  he  hai 
his  bond,  or  lofe  a  feafon 
at  fea,  be  certain  of  atten< 
ter  feflions.f    Such  is  the  tre 
Scots  commiflTioners  of  fait  du 
tht/ympathetic  Dr.  Adam  Smit 


u 


(( 


it 
it 


*  Illuftratiunsnfthc  report,  p^gc  174. 
+  Ibid  p.  175.  X  Ibid  p.   I76. 


\  Ibid  p.  191. 


ral  other  peo^e  in  the  fame  ifland  tliilowed  that  trade.*  If  the  for- 
malities on  the  remiilion  of  fait  daffes*  did  not  defeat  the  whole  in- 
tention of  the  law,  there  could  be  k>  temptation  to  this  traffic.  Dr. 
Anderfon  affisiQSf  as  a  certain  fadt»  thatySW  buttdred  thou/and  people 
in  Scotland  afe  no  fait  but  that  of  ikland.  He  tells  us  alfo,  on  the 
fubje(:l  of  cuftom-houfe  diitieS}  in  anerali  that  he  once  paid  thir- 
teen (hillings  for  leave  to  fend  coaWways  forty  fhillings  worth  of 
oat-meal.f  X^ough  the  cuftoms*  il  the  nine  mod  northern  coun- 
ties of  Scotland »  cannot  defray  theapence  ofcolle^ing  themf  yet 
they  are  in  themfelves,  very  exorbitnt,  when  compared  with  the 
value  of  the  commodities  on  which  ney  are  paid.  Bonds,  certifi- 
cates, and  other  trafh  of  that  kind  ccl  as  much  on  a  fmall  cargo,  as 
upon  a  large  one.  Dr.  Anderfon  walaflured,  that  in  the  Hebrides 
"  the  expence  of  the  cuftom-houfe  Acer  to  difcharge  a  cargo  of 
"  coals,  amounts  in  many  cafes,  tolMrr  than  fmr  times  the  d»ty  m 
"  the  ^oalt,  and  if  the  cargo  be  ym<2/|  it  will  lometimes  double  the 
«  prime  ccft,'*X  This  information  e4lains  another  of  his  aiSsrtions, 
that  thofe  poor  people,  the  Scots  Hfhlanders,  "  pay  at  leaft  five 
<*  hundred  per  cent,  more  than  thentrchants  in  London,  Liverpool^ 
<'  or  Brillol,  would  have  paid  for  tlft  fame  goods. "§ 

The  fubjefl  of  the  Scots  fi(herieslas  already  extended  tot  Confi- 
derable  length.  It  (hall  be  refumci  and  clofed  in  the  next  chapter. 
For  the  fake  of  variety,  and  as  ajflief  to  tht  feelings  of  the  read- 
er, let  us  for  the  prefent  make  a  port  excur(ion  into  the  more  ele- 
vated regions  of  legiflative  iniquil 

Some  people  are  in  the  habit  tf  revering  an  aA  of^rliaownt,  ai 
though  it  were  the  produ^on  oi^  fapeiior  beine.  To  this  clafs  of 
readers  may  be  recommended  aknifal  of  the  following  anecdote. 
In  fummer  1789,  when  the  bilpr  an  excife  on  the  manufacture  of 

oufc  of  peers,  the  lord  chancellor 
part  of  it  with  a  high  degree  of 
He  faid,  that  the  vexatious  pre* 
"  cautions  and  preventive  fAnty  of  the  excife  laws,  were  umre- 
**  ceffariiy^  extended  to  theibjeCl  in  queftion  ;  that  a  fit  attention 
**  had  not  been  paid  to  ih,t«ciriioi  imterefti  and  property  of  the  manu- 
**  fmSmrert ;  that  the  greatf  part  of  the  enabling  claufes  were  ab" 
**  furd,  eemtradiSory,  ungrmmatica/,  itnd  uninttlligible  !  He  exprcf- 
**  fed  his  wi(hes,  that  thJouie  of  commons,  if  they  meant  to  per- 
«•  fevere  in  their  claim  omavin*  money  bills  returned  from  the 
*<  houfe  of  peersunalter»  would  nut  infult  them,  by  requiring  their 
"  adoption  of  laws  tbatffotdddi/gracefchool-boys.**^  He  accordingly 
moved  for  an  amendn^u,  which  was  rejected  by  a  majority  uf  urn 


tobacco,  was  brought  up  to  tl 
Thurlow  •«  treated  the  cnaftj 
"  mixed  afperity  and  conrei 


•  Report,  page  47. 
Ibid  p.  ji. 


f  lotrodiiAion  p.  67. 

1  Ibid  p.  ji,  /  \  Ihid  p.  66. 

I  Thii  eipreflBon  intinuu,  that  in  the  opinion  of  Thurlow,  tobacco  ii  an  im- 
ri«pe»«b|eaor«icire.  II  was  in  the  right ;  for  the  tai  proditced  •  ftene  •i  lU* 
pendoui  injuftice.     A  fuftccount  of  it  (hail  be  given  hcreaifter. 

f  Dodflcy't  Annual  ^iftvr,  for  17^9,  p.  157. 


roices againft/vM.  ^a'notaify  funt'tif  hifimfsift^  natkn muniedt 
The  bill  however  had  been  iowrftchedly  conftruii^ed^  that  an  alter- 
ation appearing  abfolutely  neceflsfVi  was  urged  a  fecond  time  by  the 
Duke  of  Richmond  and  carried.  /  But  before  this  c^pld  bf  accom- 
plifhed,  the  parliament  were  jun  rifing.  They  bad  not  time  to 
think  of  their  pretended  conftitcnts.  The  alterations  were  fupi- 
prefled,  and  thebiU*  with  all  its  piperfedlions  on  its  head,  was  (lif- 
chareed  on  the  devoted  tobaccolifts  of  Britain.  If  that  parliament 
had  been  feleded  from  the  cellaof  Newgate,  they  could  not  have 
adled  in  this  affair  with  a  mve  atrocious  contempt  for  every  part 
of  their  duty.  I 

In  the  reign  of  William  the  t  ird,  one  Tilly  obtained  an  adl  of 

firliament  to  enable  Bromfhall  an  infant,  to  fell  his  intereft  in  the 
leet  prifon ;  which  intereft  wa  pnrchafed  by  Tilly.  A  re^rt  was 
fometime  after  made  in  the  hot  e  of  commons,  which  contains  thefe 
words.  «  Mr.  Pocklington,  fro  i  the  committee  on  the  abufes  of 
'*  prifons,  &c.  among  a  variet  .  of  other  matter,  reported  to  the 
'<  noufe,  that  one  Brunlhill,  a  fflicitur,  had  informed  the  faid  com- 
*'  mittee,  that  Tilly,  as  he  waslnformed,  fliould  fay,  that  he  ob< 
"  tained  that  aft  hy  bribety  andhruption, 

'*  That  one  Mrs.  Hancock  anyin?  to  Tilly  not  to  protefl  one 
«  Cuy,  being  his  clerk  of  the  pairs,  oecaufe  he  was  perjured,  Ike, 
**  Tilly  refuted  her  requeft;  uponLrhich,  beine  aiked  now  he  would 
"  do,  if  the  matter  (houjd  belaidbefore  paniament?  he  replied, 
<*  he  could  do  what  he  nvould  there  ;ihat  they  were  a  company  of  bribed 
**  'villtiiiu  i  that  to  his  knowledge,  ley  would  all  take  bribes ;  and 
'<  that4t  coft  him  three  hundred  pknds  for  his  (hare,  and  three 
«  hundred  pounds  for  the  other  (hoB  meaning  the  King's  Beuchy 
<f  for  br^ing  a  committee  lafl  parliameh 

"  That  me  then  intimated  that  Ihlmuft  then  apply  to  the  houfe 
«,  of  lords ;  he  anfwered,  it  was  only^lmrngfive  erjix  talking  lords, 
**  and  they  would  quafh  all  the  reft.  Vnd  Ine  then  faid,  (he  would 
«  try  the  kin?  and  council ;  he  addedkhe  bcft  of  the  lord-keeper's 
**  fees  were  from  him;  that  as  to  the  klges,  they  were  all  fuch 
«  a  parcel  of  rogues,  that  they  ijoouirjiwallvw  his  gold  fafter 
<*  than  he  would  give  it  them;  and  tlu  as  to  the  inembers  of 
"  the  houfe  of  commons,  they  were  ma|[of  them  members  of  his 
"  houfe,"*  This  pifture  feems  unfavoui 
of  William  the  Third  were  chiefly  compof 
charadlers.  An  example  or  two  as  to  t»  _ 
ferve  at  prefent.  We  (hall  begin  with  arfilluftrious  whig  leader* 
who  was  a  member  of  the  houle  of  peers.   V 

1  n  1 694,  William  planned  an  expedition  akinft  Breft.  The  par- 
ticulars were  betrayed  to  James  the  Second,\  a  letter  from  Marl- 
borough, wherein  he  complains  that  AdmiralRulTel  was  not  fuffi- 
ciently  ardent  in  the  caufe  of  the  exiled  kinl    Mr.  Macphfirfom 

'  \ 

•  On  the  UreandAbuftofPsrlUmcDtf,  v«l.  I.  f%  iV 


}le  ;  but  the  parliamentf 
of  very  exceptionable 
lir  general  condu6k  may 


i^-N 


r«9  I 

has  afccrtained,  beyond  all  contradk^ion,  the  guilt  of  Marlborough, 
In  confcquencc  of  this  intelligence)  the  French  prepared  for  the  re- 
ception of  their  affailants.  A  body  of  Englilh  land  forces  were  dif- 
embarked  at  Bred.  They  perceived  fuch  formidable  entrench- 
ments, and  batteries,  that  they  injmediately  attempted  to  retreat 
on  board  of  their  (hips,  fiut  the  tide  had  gone  out ;  the  flat  bot- 
tomed boats  were  entangled  in  the  mud ;  and  the  French,  with  fu- 
perior  forces,  poured  from  every  (ide  upon  the  fugitives.  Six  hun- 
dred of  thofe  who  landed  were  (lain  and  many  wounded ;  one  Dutch 
frigate  was  funk,  after  lofing  almoft  her  whole  crew.  General 
Talmarfh,  commander  in  the  expedition,  died  of  his  wounds  at 
Plymouth.  Marlborough  might  as  well  have  cut  the  throats  of  thefe 
men,  in  Smithfield  market.  In  1695,  Sir  John  Fenwick,  a  major- 
eeneral,  had  been  engaged  with  fome  ethers,  in  a  projc^  for  a  re- 
bellion in  England,  and  had  en  its  diTcovery  fled.  Some  time  aiw 
terhe  returned,  was  found  out,  ahd  arrefled.  Tofave  his  life,  he 
tranfmitted  to  Williain  an  account  of  the  treafonable  correfpond- 
ence  of  Godolphin,  Marlborough,  Ruflel,  and  other  whigs  o/Jifiine^ 
Hon  with  James.  His  accufation  •*  is  now  known  to  have  been  ia 
•*  all  points  true  ;"  and  as  there  was  only  one  evidence  againft  him, 
of  his  (hare  in  the  confpiracy,  "  he  could  not  be  convided  in  a 
"  court  of  law,  which  r(  quired /ouo."  William  was  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  real  character  of  the  perfons  thus  accufed  uf 
Fermick  ;  but  he  durft  not  come  to  an  open  rupture  with  fuch  poww 
erful  oiFonders.  The  charge  was  therefore  fmothered;  but  the 
perfons  whdm  Fenwick  hart  accufed  «'  believed  that  they  could  not 
**  be  fafe  as  long  as  he  li<v:  </.**  A  bill  of  attainder  was  therefore 
brought  into  parliament  againft  him,  and  his  late  friend  Ru(rel  ap- 
peared at  the  head  of  the  fr^fecufkn.  The  fequel  produced  a  feriet 
of  meafures  "  which  exceeded  the  injuftice  of  the  worft  precedents 
**  in  the  uorft  times  of  Cliarles  the  bi  cond  and  his  fucce(ror."  The 
whole  tranfaftion  was  vindicated  by  Gilbert  Burnet,  that  "  Right 
<•  Reverend  Father  in  Cod,"  in  a  long  fpeech  to  the  houfe  of  peers. 
This  prod ui^Hon  the  bifhophath  inferted  ii  his  hiftory,  but  he  muft 
have  oeen  alhan^ed  of  its  content?,  f  ir  he  has  not  ventured  to  ac^ 
knowledge  it  as  his  own.  The  bill  of  attainder  again(t  Fenwick 
pa(red  both  houfes  of  parliament  by  a  narrow  majority  ;  and  on  the 
28th  of  January  1696;  this  bctraviig  and  hetra)td  confpirator  wai 
"  nuithout  evidence  or  Iniv*'  beheaded  on  Tower- Mill.  Lady  Fen- 
wick having  feared  the  reftimony  of  a  perfon,  (he  attempted  to 
bribe  him  to  fly  the  kingdom.  The  accufers  direfted  this  wretch 
to  place  people  behind  a  curtain  to  overhear  the  offer ;  "  and  thia 
•*  attempt  of  a  wife  to  favc  her  hu(band'8  li*c  from  danger,  fwat 
"  turned  iute  an  eoiidence  of  his  guilt. "^  Thefe  are  the  words  of  ail 
.  hittorian,  who  is  himfelf  a  profeded  nvhigi  who  has  been  a  lawprei^  J 
•'  *  and  is  now  a  judge.     It  aj^pears  therefore,  that  in  the  clofc  of  tl)* 

*  Memoin  of  Britain  by  Sir  John  Dalrymple,  vol,  II.  put  3.  book  f. 


(    30    ) 

laft  centuiy,  the  majority  of  a  6riti(h  parliament  committed  a  deli- 
berate  marther;  and  fihat  they  did  fo  under  .the  pretence  of  punifli- 
ing  a  confpiratori  wnlle,  at  the  fame  time,  a  confiderahle  number 
of  themfmes  were  partners  in  his  guilt.  Contrafted  with  fo  black 
a  (cenct  there  is  nothing  remarka[ble  in  the  ruin  ofBritiih  tobacco- 
niftsi  or  in  the  accufation  fo  bluntly  advanced  by  the  keeper  of  the 
Fleet-prifon.  The  king  himfelf,  when  he  confented  to  this  bilU 
muft  qave  been  altogether  confcious  of  its  criminality ;  but  fpecks 
of  ilisit  kind  cannot  tarnifh  the  purity  of  fo  luminous  a  charadler. 

Since  the  Norman  conqueft*  England  has  been  governed)  includ- 
ing Oliver  ^Cromwell)  by  thirty-three  fovereigns ;  and  of  thefe, 
two-thirds  were,  each  of  them,  by  an  hundred  different   aflions, 
defervinc;  of  the  gibbet.*     Yet  the  people  over  whom  they  ruled 
leem  to  nave  been,  for  the  moft  parti  quite  worthy  of  fuch  mafters, 
and  to  have  been  as  perfedlly  divefted  of  every  honourable  feeiing, 
Mt  majefty  it/elf^  In  evidence  of  this  truth,  let  us  examine  the 
hiftbry  of  a  circumffance  in  the  reign  of  Chailes  the  Second,  that 
provoked  mor^  than  ufual  indignation.    At  that  time,  there  exift-^ 
ed  no  national  debt;  but  when  the  parliament  had  voted  fupplies, 
it  was  common  for  bankers,  and. wealthy  individuals,  to  advance 
money  to  the  exchequer,  on  the  faith   of  repayment,  when  the 
produce  of  the  grants  tlius  voted  came  into  the  public  treafury.  On 
the  2d  of  January,  167  >  the  exchequer  was  indebted  to  the  bankers 
and  others  in  the  amount  of  one  million,  three  hundred  and  twen- 
eight  thoufand,  five  hundred  and  twenty-fix  pounds;  and  on  thb 
day  Charles  fufpended  payment.     A  bankruptcy  for  ten  times  that 
fum  would  not  affed  with  an  equal  degree  of  ruin  the  prefent  com- 
merce of  England,     l^e  king,  however,  charged  his  hereditary 
fevenue  with  the  legal  intereft  of  this  fum  at  {\\  per  cent,  and  this 
was  af^ually  and  regularly  paid,  till  about  a  year  before  his  death, 
when  it  was  (topped.    As  he  advr  ^ed  the  intereft  with  pundtuaiity, 
for  fo  long  a  time»  we  may  candidly  judge  that  his  failure  in  the 
end  arofe  from  necefilty.    Sir  John  Sinclair  fays  that  the  (hutting  up 
of  the  exchequer  •*  will  for  ever  (tamp  the  charafter  of  Charles  the 
**  Second   with  indelible  infamy  "\     His   charafter  was,  upon  a 
thoufand  other  emergencies,  fo  completely y?aOT/f^,  that  any  finglc 
crime  could  have  added  little  to  the  accompt.     But  the  point  in 
queftion  is  to  prove  that  in  this  very  a(rair,  Charles,  bad  as  he  was» 
Dehaved  with  greater  honefty  x\\9Xiony  body  elfe.    Nay,  he  pofitively 
a^ed  with  ten  thoufand  times  more  regard  to  juftice  than  lord  So- 
mersi  who  is  commonly  reputed  ro  have  been  the  moft  virtuous  and 
immaculate  perfonage  in  the  fanftified  corps  of  revolution  whigs. 

*  Edward  II,  Richard  II,  and  Henry  VI,  appear  to  have  been  peaceable  men. 
They  were  all  murdered.  Edward  Vth  is  fuppoled  when  a  boy,  to  have  (hared  the 
fame  fate.  Of  Edward  VI.  the  exit  is  not  free  fromfufpicion.  Queen  Anne  was,  up- 
on the  whole,  a  harmiefs  woman ;  and  every  Englilhman  acknowledges  with  grati- 
tude and  with  pride,  that  the  virtues  ot  the  houfe  of  Bruafwick  traoTcead  all  praife. 

t  Hiftoryofthe  public  revenue,  fart  11.  chapi.  3. 


(« 
<( 
ft 
(( 


it 


(    51    ) 

When  Chail^  could  no  longer  pay  the  intereft  ofthe  money*,  the  ottt* 
fortunate  creditors  attempted  biit  in  vain  to  intereft  the  leeiflature  ia 
their  behalf.  **  They  were  at  laft  obliged  to  maintain  their  right» 
"  in  the  courts  of  juftice.  The  fuit  was  protrad^ed  for  about  ttueht 
<'jr/>arr  in  the  courts  below,  bu^judement  was  obtained  againfttbe 
"  crown»  about  the  year  1697.  1  he  decifion,  however^  was  fet 
'*  afide  by  lord  Somers,  then  chancellor;  though  it  is  faid  that  ten 
"  out  of  the  twelve  judges,  whom  he  had  called  to  hu  afiiftance 
"  were  of  a  different  ofimioh.  The  caufe  was  at  laft  carried  by  ap- 
"  peal  to  the  houfe  of  lordsj  by  whom  the  decree  ofthe  chancelms 
wasreverfed;  and  the  patentees  would  of  courfc  have  received 
the  annual  intereft  contained  in  the  original  letters  patent^  hfti  not  an 
Z&.  pafled  anno  1699}  by  which*  in  lieu  thereof*  it  was  ena£ted» 
that  after  the  25th  of  December  17051  the  hereditary  revenue  of 
"  excife  ihould  ftand  charged  with  the  annual  pynient  of  thrbi 
**  percent,  for  the  principal  fum  contained  in  the  (aid  letters  patent^ 
"  fubjedl  neverthelefs  to  be  redeemed  upon  the  payment  of  a  moie- 
ty thereof*  or  fix  hundred  and  fixty-four  thou0i|Kl*  two  hundred 
«*  and  fixty-three  pounds."* 

The  good  people  of  Britain  fpeak  with  as  mochflacncy  of  French 
and  Spani(h  treachery,  as  if  we  had  engrofled  in  our  own  perfont 
the  whole  integrity  ofthe  human  race.  Yet  it  will  be  difficult  to 
find  a  fingie  tranfafHon  in  any  ag<^|j|»t  more  thoroughly  bkcken» 
the  character  of  an  entire  nation  thahime  robbery  of  thefe  creditors. 
The  perfidy  of  Charles  himfelf  is  forgot  in  the  fuperiorUa/eof  fab- 
fequent  fcoundrelifm.  Firft,  the  flaming  parliamentary  patriots  of 
that  time  refufed  to  trouble  themfelves  about  the  matter ;  though 
their  piety  was  fo  deeply  alarmed  by  the  profpeft  of  a  Popifh  fuc- 
cefTor  to  the  crown.  In  the  fecond  place*  the  claim  became  a  ouef- 
tion  in  the  courts  belovj.  That  the  re-payment  of  this  thirteen  hun- 
dred thoufand  pounds  Oiould  ever  have  been  an  ohjtd  of  hefitation 
at  all*  was*  in  itfelf,  an  utter  difgrace  to  the  whole  fyftem  of  Eng- 
lifh  jurifprudence.  The  law-fuit  lafted  for  tnvelve  years.  During 
this  time*  and  while  the  court  of  London  rolled  in  luxury*  manv 
of  the  creditors  muft  have  gone  to  jail,  or  at  leaft*  many  fubordif 
nate  creditors,  whom  the  former*  in  confequenceof  this  fraud*  were 
unable  to  fatisfy.  An  immenfe  number  of  families  muft  have  been 
reduced  to  beggary  ;  and  a  croud  of  honeft  fathers  and  hufband^ 
muft  have  died  of  a  broken  heart.  At  length  a  decifion  was  obtain- 
ed* and  approved  by  ten  out  of  the  twelve  judges..  A  thoufand 
racked  bankrupts  rejoiced  in  the  profped  of  reftitution. 

Till  at  the  laft,  a  cruel  fpoiler  came, 
mf^y  Cropt  this  fair  flower,  and  rifled  all  its  fweetneft. 

T^t  decifion  was  reverfed  by  Somers*  the  lord  chancellor*,  a 
ho  exhibited  in  his  own  perfon  the  very  focus  of  whig 


wMyofthe  public  revenue*  part  ii,  chap.  4. 


viftac*  This  conduA  reminds  os  of  the  proverb,  th^t  tit  reeirver  «r 
at  bad  at  the  thief.    Charles  paid  the  intereft  of  the  money  as  long 
he  could.    Somers  would  pay  nothing.    It  is  therefore  indifputable 
that)  of  the  two  roguesj  the  receiver  was  in  this  inftance,  by  much 
the  greater.    The  houfe  of  lords  feverfed  fo  fcandalous  a  decree* 
but  mark  what  follows.    An  a£t  of  parliament  was  immediately 
pafledi  which  in  oppofition  to  every  principle  of  law,  of  juftice* 
and  of  decency,  interfered  with  the  dccifion  of  a  judicial  court.  To 
confummate  the  infamy  of  the  Englifti  houfe  of  peers,  they  content- 
ed  as  le^ijlatnrs^  to  the  reverfal  of  their  own  deciiinn  as  judget^  thui 
demonlhating  their  invulnerable  contempt  for  all  veftige  of  reputa- 
tion.    In  the  end,  payment  was  delayed  for  more  than  five  addi- 
tional years,  and  then,  »he  half  of  the  legal  intereft  was  begun  to 
be  paid  annually,  but  redeemable  on  refunding  halfo{\\\^  Aim  origi- 
nally ilolen.     'Phe  reader  will  <«bfcfve  in  wiiat  kind  cf  milk  and  wa- 
ter ftyle,  Sir  John  Sinclair  has  related  this  ft.-<ry.     He  has  made  a 
fubfequent  butfmall  miitake,  in  faying  that  the  creditors  werekept 
for  twenty  five  yMrs  out  of  their  money.     From  a  year  before   the 
death  of  Charles  the  Secom^,+  to  the  2  jih  of  December  1 705,  is  a 
period  oflefs  than  twenty-Zitn*^  years.    At  (\xper  cettt.  ofciwipound 
mtereft,  a  fum  doubles  itfelf  once  in  eleven  years,  and  three  hun* 
dred  and  thirty-one  days,  or  twice,  in  twenty-three  years  and  about 
ten  mdnths.     For  the  fake  of  round  numbers,  let  us  reduce  the  ori- 
ginal debt  to  thirteen  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  and  fuppofe  that  it 
doubled  tivice  during  the  time  when  payment  of  intercft  was  fiifpen- 
ded.     At  this  rate,  the  merchants  had  in  December,  170c,  loft  five 
anHlions,  and  two  hundred  thoufand  pounds  fterling;  beiides  their 
«xpencesina  law-fuit  of  twelve  years.     In  compenfation,  parlia« 
fnent  granted  them  an  annuity  of  three /<>r  ont.on  the  original  fum* 
that  is  to  fay,  thirty-nine  thoufand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-fire  poundst 
fettenteen  fhillings  and f'ven-pence fitrling^     At  x^^k  p^r  cent,  the  annual 
intereft  of  five  millions  and  two  hundred  thoufand  pounds-amounted 
to  three  hundred  and  twelve  thoufand  pounds.     I'hus  parliament 
gave  fomewhat  more  tban  an  eighth  part  of  what  the  merchants  had 
adlually  loft.    We  now  fee  that  the  felonious  ravages  of  an  Eng* 

*  "  One  of  thofe  divine  men,  who,  like  a  chapel  in  a  palrc-e,  remain  unpro* 
"  faned,  white  all  the  reft  is  tyranny,  corruption,  and  folly.  All  the  traditional 
**  accounts  of  him,  the  hiftoriant  of  the  laft  age,  and  its  beft  authors,  reprefent  him 
••  as  the  mqft  uncorrupt  laivyer,  and  the  honrjltjl  Jiatefman,  as  a  matter  orator,  a 
•*  geni"8  of  the  finett  tafte,  and  as  a  patriot  of  the  nobleft  and  raoft  exreniive  views ; 
'*  as  a  man,  who  difpeufedblel^ngs  by  his  life,  and  planned  them  for  poflerity." 
Catalogue  of  royal  and  noble  authors  by  Horace  Walpole.  Art.  Somers.  The 
writer  proceeds  \n  a  rhapfody  of  five  pages  to  the  fame  purpofe.  He  appeals  to  the 
hiftorians  and  the  befi  authors  o{\ht  laft  age.  It  is  likely  that  none  of  thefe encomU 
afts  had  been  creditors  to  the  En^ li(h  exchequer,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second, 
fiutthe  panegyrics  of  all  mankind  cannot  convert  an  a£l  of  arrant  robbery  into  an 
aA  of  jiiftice.  The  hiftorians  to  whom  Mr.  Walpole  appeals  prove  iUHlUBg  but 
how  vilely  the  Bntifli  annals  have  commonly  been  compofed. 

t  He  died  on  the  6th  of  February,  1684. 


\ 


(     33    ) 


t  reeiroer  u 


Uih  government  are  not  fcftri^edto  Scots  Highlanders.  With  fuch 
agulphof  imqutty  yawningon  every  fide,  we  are  tempted  to  think 
ourfelvvs  perufing  the  Tyburn  chronicle.  The  real  canfe  fc  <hut- 
ting  up  the  exchequer  was  yet  more  difreputable  than  the  a^v  elf. 
Charles  had  declared  war  againft  the  Dutch,  for  the  fame  reafoa 
that  a  Dev  of  Algiers  declares  it.*  The  conteft  had  coft  more 
than  five  millitms  fierling.  His  ftarliament  refufed  to  relieve  him 
from  the  preflure  of  fome  of  the  expences.  The  king  offered  to 
make  any  man  triafurer*  who  would  remove  his  neceffitics*  Clif- 
ford embraced  the  pr<^fal,  and  the  exchequer  was  clofed.  The 
Dutch  wars  were  iimnitely  more  criminal  than  even  this  action,  but 
thefe  were  only  piracies  abroad;  the  other  was  piracy  at  home,  and 
for  that  reafon  only  has  it  been  condemned.  In  i6j5»^  ^^^\  Crom- 
well) without  either  provocation  or  pretence^  attacked  ^in;  and 
we  fiiil  celebrate  the  Aigerine  v  ivories  of  admiral  Blake  oyer  the 
fleets  of  that  injured  country,  which  prov|»that  the  nation  has  not 
yet  acquired  more  wifdom  or  honefty,  than  its  anceftonu  A  \SXf 
modern  ad  of  profligacy  fliall  clofe  this  chapter. 

Sixty  thoufand  pounds  were  granted  by  parliament  to  Georg^  the 
Third,  that  he  might  be  enabled  to  make  an  eftabliflin^nt  lor  hii 
cldeft  fon.  Fifty  thoufand  pounds  a  year  wire  likewife  bellowed 
upon  this  young  man  for  his  perfonal  expences.  An  hundred  and 
eighty-one  thoufand  pounds  have  iince  been  afligned  by  parliament 
for  his  works  at  Carleton-houfe,  and  for  the  difcharee  of  debtf 
which  he  had  contrad^ed  notwithftanding  his  penflon  of  ^y  thou, 
fand  pounds  a  year.f  Ten  thoufand  pounds  per  aamtiii,  like  t 
drop  in  the  bucket,  were  alfo  added  to  his  sdlowancc,  that  he 
Itiight  never  be  under  the  necefllty  of  incurring  new  debts. 
Itisfaid,  however,  that  the  fum  thus  entrufted,  was  never  applied 
to  thedifcharge  of  his  debts;  and  at  leaft  one  circumftance  is  cer- 
tain, that  the  prince  of  Wales  continues  to  be  on  the  wrong  fide  of 
the  hedge,  by  fome  hundred  thoufands  of  pounds.  It  is  reported^ 
that  great  numbers  of  London  tradefnien  have  been  compelled  to 
fhut  up  their  fliops,  in  confequence  of  their  unfortunate  connection 
with  this  bankrupt.  His  ftud  of  horfes  has  more  than  once  been 
fold  for  much  k(s  than  thefe  animals  originally  coft  him.  The  talk 
of  recording  his  exploits  mufl:  be  referved  for  the  pen  of  fome  future 
Suetonius.  At  the  preient  time,  (September,  1792,)  it  may  be 
fafely  computed,  that  in  one  fhape  or  other,  he  has  expended  for  the 

♦  "  The  wan  which  the  king  entered  into  againft  the  Dutch,  were  principally 
*•  with  a  view  of  plundering  a  wtaltbyt  and,  at  he  imagined,  a  dejer.cil/t  neigh* 
"hour."  Hiltory  of  the  public  revenue,  part  1.  chap.  9.  The  war,  begun  by  the 
commonwealth  of  England  agaiuft  Holland  in  1650,  was  likewife  unprovoked  by 
the  latter.  In  thefe  thiee  quarrels  more  lives  were  loft,  and  more  mifchief  done, 
than  has  been  committed  by  all  the  corfain  of  Barbary  ever  fince,  and  yet  we  pre- 
tend to  call  thefe  people  firatet,  while  the  far  more  exienftve  enormities  of  the  Bri- 
ciih  navy,  are  bumilhed  into  pages  of  heroifm.  In  tlie  pra^e  of  fea-robbery, 
England  has  exceeded  every  other  nation. 

t  Hiftory  of  the  public  revenue,' part  III' chap.  a. 


(34    ) 

■ation  eight  hundred  thonfand  pounds  fter1ing>  befides  the  intereft 
of  the  money  up  to  this  date.  We  may  compare  this  mode  of  cx- 
haufting  the  publie  treafury)  with  that  employed  in  the  highlands  of 
Scotland,  to  i;epleni(h  it.* 

On  a  fubjefl  fo  hatefuly  there  can  be  no  pleafure  to  expatiate.  In- 
deed the  tafte  of  the  nation  runs  in  a  very  oppofite  channel.  We 
can  hardly  o^^n  a  newfpaper  without  meeting  a  irhapfody  on  the 
virtues  and  abilities  of  the  prince  of  Wales.  Hisadmirersi  like  the 
fpaniel  that  licks  the  foot  raifed  to  kick  him,  lire  not  contented 
with  general  praife.  They  tell  u«,  in  tranfports  of  exultationj  that 
he  gave  a  thoufand  guineas  for  "  an  admirable  fnuff-box ;"  that, 
npon  a  late  birth-day^  he  appeared  a|  court  in  a  fuit  of  cloathS) 
which}  including  diamonds)  cod  eighty  thoufand  pounds  ;  that  he 
.bought  a  face  horfe  for  fifteen  hundred  guineas,  and  fold  him  for  . 
jeventy  pounds ;  that  he  was  prefent  fome  time  ago  at  a  boxing 
match,  where  a  (boemaker  was  ftruck  dead  with  a  fingle  blow  ; 
and  that  he  drove  a  lady  round  St.  James's  park,  or  that  (he  drove 
hinif  no  matter  which,  in  a  phaeton  with  four  black  ponies^f 

For  thefe  ineftimable  fervices,  the  nation  has  paid  eight  hundred 
thonfand  pounds;  a  fum  loft  in  the  bottontlefs  pit  ofCarletori-houfe. 
How  many  additional  millions  are,  like  Curtius,  to  be  A/allowed 
up  in  the  fame  gulph,  time  only  can  determine.  Since  this  country 
had  the  honor  of  eftahlifhing  a  houfehold  for  the  prince  of  Wales, 
we  have  been  burdened  with  additional  taxes  upon  fnufFand  tobac- 
to,  on  paper,  advertifements,  leather,  perfumery,  horfes,  attor- 
lites,  batchelors,  ftage-coaches,  gloves,  hats,  male  and  female  fer- 
vants,!}:  pedlars  and  ihopkeepers ;  upon  wirinws,  candles,  medi- 
cines, bills  and  receipts ;  upbn  newfpapers  a^id  p?.rtridges ;  and  if 

•  In  North-America,  t}>erearf  fometimes  found  thebonrsofa  carniverous  qua- 
iruped,  which  mufthavr  been,  when  alive,  three  or  foui  times  larger  than  the  ele- 
phant. This  animal,  which  ipay  likely  have  been  amphibious,  appears  now  to 
be  extirpated.  Perhaps  it  perifhec^from  an  iinpoiTibility  of  obtaining  adequate  fub- 
fiftence.  A  foreft  thirty  leagues  in  length,  would  have  been  infufficient  to  furnifli 
food  for  fo  formidable  a  gueft.  It  is  pollible  that  the  fpecUs  nf  ki:  gt  may  one 
day,  tome  to  be  extirpated  for  a  (imilar  reafon.  The  gluttony  of  the  mammoth, 
devouring  fix  buffaloes  for  a  breakfalt,  bears  no  proportion  to  the  ordinary  extent  of 
royal  rapacity.  Two  hundred  families  of  fovereigns  like  thofe  of  France  or  England, 
would  of  themfelves,  be  fufficient  for  confuming  the  whole  revenues  of  Europe. 

t  It  is  very  generally  whifpered  and  believed,  that  an  illujirious  perfoiiage  (hot 
one  of  his  footmen  dend  with  a  pitlol,  for  difrefpe<£%  to  a  woman.  If  this  be  true, 
the  life  of  Dr.  Philip  Withers  has  not  been  the  only  facrificeatthatlhrine ;  nor  will 
Morocco  be  in  future,  the  only  country  in  the  world  governed  by  an  executioner. 

.In  the  London  chronicle,  I  read  miiiy  years  ago,  an  article  ftatin^,  that  a  very 
young  naval  officer  luhofe  name  tvas  inprtrd  ttt  full  Itngth,  had  ftabbed  one  of  hit 
fervants.  There  was  never  any  farther  notice  in  the  newfpapers  of  this  Itory  ;  but 
I  have  (ince  learned,  that  the  man  died  of  his  wound  ;  and  thatafailor  on  board  of 
the  (hip  where  the  murder  was  committed,  underwent  a  (ham  trial  for  it,  and  was 
difcharged. 

X  The  latter  tax  ought  to  have  been  entitled  a  recipe  for  female  idlenefi,  theft 
and  proftitutioD. 


(    3J    ) 

any  thing  can  be  yet  mote  impertinent  or  oppreflive)  on  birtus^  bu- 
rials and  legacies  ;  befides  a  crowd  of  other  impofuions  beyond  the 
retention  of  the  ftrongeft  memory.  Now  it  is  remarkablci  that  ten 
or  fifteen  of  thefe  taxes  nlight  be  feledled,  which  by  their  nett  pro- 
duce»  could  not  in  whole  have  difcharged  the  expences  of  this  An- 
gle private  perfon.  We  are  inceflantly  deafened  about  our  obliga- 
tions to  the  houfe  of  Guelph.  It  would  be  l^ut  candid  to  ftate  an 
eilimate  of  their  obligations  to  US|  andto  (Irike  the  balance. 

In  the  courfe  of  a  century»  from  the  revolution  to  Michaelmas* 
1788}  the  pilots  of  our  moft  excellent  conftitution»  have  received 
into  the  Britilh' exchequer)  one  thoufand  millions)  fix  hundred  and 
forty-four  thoufand)  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  pounds  l^erling.* 
It  will  be  hard  to  prove  that  even  a  twentieth  part  of  this  money 
has  been  expended  on  wife  or  ufeful  purpofes.  To  this  we  muftadd 
the  charges  of  colle^ing  the  revenue  for  the  fame  period,  which 
can  be  moderately  guefifed  at  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds  perannum. 
This  rate  extendS)  in  an  hundred  years  to  fixty  millions  of  pounds 
fterling  deburfed  for  the  invaluable  exploits  of  cuftom-houfe  and  ex- 
cife  officers.  Such  a  fum,  at  a  compound  intereft  of  five /era/it,  com- 
puting from  the  refpedive  dates  of  its  annual  expenditure*  would 
by  this  time  have  been  large  enough  to  buy  up  in  fee  fimple*  the 
Britifh  iflands,  with  the  laft  acre>  and  the  lafl:  guinea  that  thcf 
contain. 


»«ilBB!^  <«€<««*■' 


CHAPTER    II. 

Fertility  of  the  Hebrides — IJIay-"Its  frodigimt  improvement'—Immenfi 
abundance  offijh — M'ferable  efftHs  ofExciJe — Aftonifiiitig  Corn  Law 
•—What  Scotland  migijt  hanje  been— ^Famine  d firing  the  war  of  i6Sg 
— CuUode»—The  bloody  Duke — Ajlfangi  Aa  of  Farliament — JJr«- 
tal  triumph  of  the  Britijh  Nation, 

WE  have,  in  the  laft  chapter)  learned  fome  of  th^circumftan- 
ces  that  prevent  the  improvement  of  Scots  filheries.  Wc 
ihall  now  return  to  that  fubjedl)  by  a  farther  examination  Qf  Dr. 
Anderfon's  performance.  Other  writers  have  caft  light  on  this 
queftioU)  and  well  deferve  to  be  quoted.  But  the  prefent  work  em- 
Graces  an  immenfe  multiplicity  of  objedis ;  and  hencC)  it  becomes 
requifite  to  condenfe  and  abridge  our  materials.  There  is  not  to  ht 
exped^ed)  in  this  placC)  a  complete  account  of  the  fituation  of  the 
inhabitants  in  the  northern  counties,  and  Sh  the  iflands  of  Scot- 
land. .A  few  interefting  fafts  only  will  be  ftated ;  fome  (hocking 
abufes  of  government  will  be  exhibited;  and  fome  obvious  reflec- 

*  HiftoryofthepuUicreveaue)  pactlii.  chap.  r. 


{  «6  y 


'.  h 


tions  will  be  fubmitted  to  the  public.  Bv  a  iketch  of  this  kind,  the 
fpirit  of  curiofity  and  of  enquiry  may  pernaps  be  excited ;  and  then 
every  perfonis  able,  at  his  own  convenience)  to  make  himfelf  maf- 
ter  of  the  cafe.  This  may  be  refolved  into  three  points^  the  natu< 
ral  advantages  of  the  country  itfelf)  the  miferable  confequefices  re- 
fulting  from  the  tyranny  of  parliament,  and  the  numerous  benefits 
that  would  arife  fron^  an  honeii  and  beneficent  adimniftration. 

Tt  has  commonly  been  fuppofed,  that  the  Hebrides  were  barren 
and  unfit  for  agriculture.  On  the  contrary,  Dr.  Anderfon  ftates, 
that  they  contain  extenfive  fields  of  unufual  fertility.  Many  trades 
which  have  never  been  ploughed  are  capable  to  produce  corn,  and 
to  fapply  fubfiftence  for  a  multitude  of  people.  Arran  excepted, 
which  is  very  mountainous,  the  weftern  iflands  are  for  the  moft  part 
kvel.  Tiree,  for  example,  is  one  continued  plain  of  fine  arable 
land,  with  only  two  fmall  hills.  The  weft  fide  of  Barra,  of  Uift, 
and  of  Harris,  and' the  whole  of  the  iflands  between  thefe,  as  well 
as  the  north-weft  fide  of  Lewis,  are  low  lands.  They  are  one  en- 
tire bed  of  (hell-fand,  and  extremely  fruitful.  Dr.  Anderfon,  who 
is  himfelf  a  farmer  of  experience,  obferves,  that  thefe  fields  of  ftiell- 
fand,  when  well  cultivated,  and  properly  manured  with  {ea-weed» 
give  crops  of  barley,  j»rhich  cannot,  as  he  imagines,  be  equailed  in 
any  part  of  J^urope.  *  He  adds,  that  were  he  to  fpecify  tne  parti- 
culars, they  would  not  obtain  credit.  The  crops  of  peafe  and  rye 
are  very  luxuriant ;  and  he  fuppofes  that  turnips,  lucerne,  fainfoin, 
»id  wheat,  might  be  raifed  in  as  great  perfe^on  as  any  where  in 
this  quarter  of  the  world.  Lime-ftone,  marie,  and  (hell-fand,  ar^ 
fvety  ivhere  to  be  met  twith  in  great  plenty.  The  iflands  of  Cannay 
and  Egg,  confift  of  fevei^^l  rows  of  bafaltic  columns  raifed  one 
above  each  other.  The  ground  is  not  level,  but  the  foil  is  very 
fertile.  The  rocks  of  LiTmbre  confift  entirely  of  lime-ftone,  and 
the  land  is  fruitful,  even  to  a  proverb.  The  climate  of  the  weft- 
ern iflands  is  more  favouralip^  and  the  harveft  for  the  moft  part 
more  early  than  on  the  oppoltte  coaft  of  Scotland.  During  fummer, 
the  wind  blows  commonly  from  the  fouth-weft,  and  of  conft-quence 
it  is  loaded  with  clouds  from  the  Atlantic.  The  high  lands  on  the 
weftern  coafts  intercept  thefe  clouds,  and  the  rain  defeends  in  tor- 
rents. But  in  the  iflands  the  ground  is  low.  The  clouds  pafs  ovej 
them  without  ohftrudlion.  There  is  ufually  lefs  rain  in  fummer 
than  the  inhabitants  would  defire.  The  harveft  is  more  early  and 
more  certain  than  on  the  continent.  In  Iflay,  the  crops  are  com- 
inonly  fecured  before  the  end  of  September ;  a  more  early  feafon 
than  in  Eaft  Lothian,  the  beft  corn  country  of  Scotland.  Among 
the  weftern  iflands,  where  the  foil  is  not  flicll-fand,  th«  furface 
very  frequently  confifts  of  mofly  earth.  When  manured  with  fliell- 
fand,  it  beconifsat  once  capable  of  bearing  excellent  crops  of  grain. 
When  afterwards  laid  into  erafs,  it  becomes  covered  with  a  fine 
fwaird,  confifting  chiefly  of  white  clflver  and  the  poa-graflfes ;  fo 
that  this  improved  foil  becomes  in  future  equally  adaptol  |pr  com 


# 


(•^37    I 


or  pafturc.  Thofe  hills,  which  cnnnot  be  plcugl.cd,  nre  yet  fuf- 
ceptible  of  the  greatelj  improvement.  When  covered  with  tluit  fort 
of  manure  whic^  is  every  where  pk'ntiful  and  inexhauilible,  they 
immediately  obtain  a  fifie  pile  of  delicate  and  perennial  grafs. 

As  an  evidence  of  what  may  be  accomplillied  in  tho  Hebrides, 
by  the  joint  efforts  of  induftry  and  judgmenti  we  may  confider  the 
proceedings  of  \yalter  Campbelli  Efquirei  of  ShawficKl,  proprietor 
of  Iflay.*  About  twelve  years  before  Dr.  Anderfon  came  to  vifu  itj 
this  i||ind,  like  moil  of  the  Hebrides,  at  prefent,  had  no  roads  on 
which  carriages  could  be  drawn,  no  bridges,  no  public  work  of  any 
kind.  It  contained  lefs  than  feven  thoufand  people  ;  and  it  imjM>rted 
annually,  between  three  and  four  thoufand  bolls  of  grain.  Thus, 
iflhut  out  fron>  the  reft  of  the  world,  the  inhabitants  muft  have 
expired  of  hunger.  They  w^re  difcontented;  and  they  had  begun 
to  emigrate.  Their  departure  was  interrupfed  by  the  very  judi- 
cious war  againft  America,  which  commenced  for  a  duty  of  three- 
pence per  pound  upon  tea,  and  terminated  with  an  cxpence  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  millions  fterling.  Now  let  us  confider  the  ftaie 
of  this  ifland  in  the  year  178;.  In  fpite  of  the  intervention  of  a  bloo- 
dy war,  that  lafted  for  fcven  years  and  an  half  out  of  the  twelve,  and 
checked  all  forts  of  improvement  xtk  all  parts  of  the  empire,  the 
population  had  augmented  tg  ten  thoufand  fouls.  Tjiefe,  inftead 
of  importing  their  fubfifterwe,  /^-/sr/^^  annually,  about  five  thou- 
fand bolls  of  grainj^  three  thoufand  fix  hundred  head  of  black  cfU- 
tle,  between  three'  and  four  hundred  horfes,  and  about  thirry-fijc! 
thoufand  fpindles  of  yarn,  all  of  their  own  produce  and  r^  fac- 
ture.  Thirty  miles  of  excellent  roads  had  aliea'dy  been  form  .  A 
great  number  of  ufe^'ul  bridges  w«a^  eteded.  A  well  conllruiftcd 
pier  had  been  built.  *  A  town  was  oc^un,  and  its  inhabitants  mul- 
tipliedprjth  rapidity.  Markets  wer^  opened  Tor  the  produce  oftlie 
land.  Large  tradis  of  barren  ground  were  annually  brouj^ht 
into  culture.  The  people  IfereCinduftrioirt  and  fatlsficd.  Thi* 
rapid  improvement  was  atchieved,  in  a  poor  and  fcquefter- 
cd  iflarid,  by  the  exertions  of  a  fingle  private  gentleman. 
Hence,  it  feems  evident,  that  if  the  re/l  Qt  Scotland  had  been  go- 
verned with  equal  wildom,  its  wealth,  population,  importance,  and 
feli^|ity,  muft,  at  the  fame  rime,  have  incr«af«d  in  a  fimilar  propor- 
tioh.  From  fixtet  n  hundred  thoufand  people,  we  (hould  in  twelve 
years  have  multiplied  to  two  millions  and  three  hundred  thoufand. 

F 

*  The  Doftor  obferved  to  a  friend,  that  part  of  the  fuperior  pood  feiife  of  this 
gentleman  arofe  from  his  happinefs  in  being  born  a  younger  tiolhir.  He  did  not 
obtain  the  eftates  of  the  family  till  he  had  reached  the  maturity  ^i  h'S  underftand- 
ing  ;  Wflen  the  death  of  an  elder  fen,  without  children,  put  him  into  poiVcliion  of 
them.  Such  is  the  ridiculous  confeqiience  of  the  right  of  primogeniture,  that  it 
not  only  half  beggars  the  reft  of  the  family,  but  in  two  cafes  out  of  tiirec,  theob- 
je6t  ot  its  favour  has  a  very  g^reat  chance  for  being  a  blockhead.  Everybody  may 
remark,  at  a  grammar-fchool,  that  heirs  are  in  general  the  moft  idle,  ignorant, 
and  vicious  of  all  the  boys.  Of  jhefc  hopeful  materials  our  future  legiflatures  arc 
to  be  formed. 


^ 


At  the  fame  time*  Scotland  muft  have  been  aMe  to  export  grain  in 
much  greater  quantities  than  what  (he  at  prefent  imports.  The 
agriculture  of  the  country  muft  very  foon  have  ddubled  its  produc- 
tions. The  exiftence  of  feven  hundred  thoufand  additional. people, 
in  twelve  years  only,  hath  been  prevented  by  the  magic  wands  of 
live  or  fix  hundred  cuilom-houfe  and  excife  officers. 

It  is  remarkable  that  though  xh&free  government  of  Britain  can- 
not perform  revolutions  like  that  etfcded  by  Mr.  Campbell,  yet 
a  tafk  of  tills  nature  has,  within  our  own  days,  been  cxec^ed  by 
one  of  the  moil  inflexible  defpots  that  ever  menaced  mapkind.    In 
the  year  1763,  the  dominions  of  Frederick  the  Great,  had  been 
reduced  to  the  utmoft  diilrefs.    The  king  himfelf,  in  his  poilhu- 
mou«  memoirs,  obferves,  that  "  no  defcription,  however  pathetic, 
**  can  poflibly  approach  to  the  deep,  the  afflicting,  the  mournful  im- 
<*  prcffion,  v'hich  thii  Jight  of  them  infpirtd."     Among   other  parti- 
culars, he  tells  us,  that  they  nad  Xcfkfive  hundred  thoufand  tnhahitfints. 
Thirteen  thoufand  houfes  had  been  razed  from  the  earth  ;  and  the 
whole  nation,  from  the  noble  to  the  peafant,  were  in  rags  that  hard- 
ly covered  their  nakednefs.    In  about  eight  years  ofpc^ce,  the 
breaches  of  population  were  pcrfeftly  repaired,  and  the  whole  coun- 
try  becamt  as  flburiihing  as  c^yer.    Thus,  what  Mr.  Campbell  aded 
upon  a  fmall  fcale,  was  done  by  Frederick  upon  a  greater.     There 
is  no  doubt  that  Scotland  itfelf  might  be  improved  as  quickly  as  the 
iflandoflflay.     For  indance.  Dr.  Anderfon  remarks,  that  within 
the  laft  fifty  years,  a  very  great  alteration  for  me  better  has  taken 
place  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Aberdeen.    Many  thoufand  acres  of 
the  moft  barren  land  that  can  be  conceived,  have  been  converted  in- 
to excellent  corn-fields  ;  ap^  he  computes  that,  in  confequence  of 
this  change,  the  rent  of  this  ^ano  has  been  auvnented  by  more  than 
thirty  thoufand  pounds  fterling  per  annum.     The  iron  forge  at  Bu- 
naw  gives  employment  to  feveral  families.     When  they  were  plan- 
ted near  it,  the  foil  was  nothing  but  a  bleak  mofs  with  fome  dwarf- 
i(h  heath.    Of  this  land,  feveral  hundred  acres  are  now  covered' 
with  grafs  and  corn.    The  fteep  mountain  at  Fort  William,  feemed 
by  nature  incapable  of  improvemerit ;  but  is  now  overfpread  with 
gardens  and  corn-fields.     To  thefe  details  by  Dr.  Anderfon,  every 
nerfon  may,  from  hjs  own  obfcrvation,  add  others  of  the  fame 
kind.     The  hiftory  of  the  parifli  of  Portpatrick,  in  the  ftatiftical 
account  of  Scotland,  affords  an  inftance  of  how  much  may  be  done 
for  a  barren  corner.     What  adds  to  tlie  merit  of  the  improvements 
in  Iflay  is,  that  they  were  accomplilbed  under  the  moll  oppreflive 
fyftcm  of  taxation    that  can  be  devifed.     The  proprietor  himfelf 
I'.as  encountered  the  moft  rancoro'  ;  infolence  in  carrying  j;)n  the 
fiOicvy,  not  only  from  the  commiflloners  of  the  fait  duties,  but 
from  a  petty  (;ft:ccr  of  excife;  and  if  he  had  not  been  a  very  abfo* 
and  powerful  man,  thefe  harpies  might  have  reduced  him  to  bank- 
ruptcy.     We  muft  not   therefore  bliime  pi^vidcncc,  becaufe  the 
Hebrides,  and  a  confiderable  part  of  the  main  land  6f  Scotland,  are 


(    89    ) 

ftill  in  a  ftate  of  comparative  defolation.  Induftry  lingers  not  for  want 
<jf  a  richer  foil  or  a  milder  fky;  but  for  want  of  fuch  a  legiflatoras 
Frcdeiick  fometimcd  was,  and  fuch  landlords  as  Walter  Camp- 
-bfll.  It  is  not  merely  by  the  quality  of  the  foil,  that  the  Hebrides 
may  become  valuable.  Mines  of  lead  and  copper  have  been  found 
in  Iflay  ;  and  in  Tircc  and  Skye,  quarries  of  eycellent  marble  have 
been  difcovered.  Coal  has  been  met  with  in  feveral  places,  but  a 
difcovery  of  this  nature  muft  be  ufeleis,  unlefs  to  the  ifland  where 
it  may  fee  tlug;  becaufe  the  coafting  duty  upon  coal  would  eiFc<^lual- 
ly  prevent  its  being  exported  even  to  the  neighbouring  iflands. 
Their  inhabitants  live  in  fcattered  hamlets.  They  can  buy  but  a 
fmail  quantity  of  coals  at  one  time,  poffibly  only  half  a  ton.  The 
cxpenceof  bringing  an  excife  officer  for  thirty  miles  perhaps,  to  in- 
fpecl  the  coals,  an  expence  which  the  parties  mufl  pay,  would  of- 
ten tome,  as  before  obfervcd,  to  four  times  the  price  of  the  cargo. 
In  the  fame  way,  if  the  natives  had  any  cargo  fit  for  a  foreign  mark- 
et,  they  muft  before  they  can  fail,  obtain  a  clearance  from  the 
cuftom-houfe.  1  his  would,  in  many  cafes,  coft  more  than  the  worth 
of  the  cargo.  » 

The  circumftance  by  which  the  Hebrides  have  as  yet  been  prin- 
cipally diflinguiflifd,  is  that  immenfe  quantity  oi  excellent  fiih  that 
fill  the  furrounding  fcas.  It  is  unneceflary  here  to  mtniion  the 
names  of  perhups  thirty  dilFerent  kinds,  including  a  great 
variety  of  flitll-fifli;  but  let  us  remark  the  idiotiim  of  the  Englifli 
government,  when  pretending  to  remit  the  fait  duties  for  the  fake 
of  encouraging  the  Scots  filheriei.  The  perfons  who  receive  bonded 
fait  are  not  fuScred  to  catch  any  filh  but  herrings.  They  muit  car- 
ry their  men,  and  boats,  their  nets,  and  fait,  and  caiks  to  the  tifhing 
ground.  They  muft  remain  there  for  three  months,  and  if  a  Oioal 
of  cod  or  turbot,  of  haddocks,  of  mullet,  of  foal,  of  flc  undcrs,  or 
of  halybut,  comes  in  their  way,  they  are  not  at  liberty  to  take 
.them  ;  but  are  condemned  to  fpcnd  thefe  three  months  in  pcrfci'l 
idlenefs,*  unlefs  they  meet  with  a  (boal  of  herrings.  Vet  it  fre- 
■  quently  happens  that  but  for  this  prohibition,  thty  could  load  tiii.ir 
vcflelswith  cargoes  of  other  filh  equally  valuable.  At  the  end  (.fthrcd 
months,  they  muftbrin^»  their  men,  their  boats,  their  nets,  tlieir  fait, 
and  their  caflcs  back  to  the  cuftom-houfe,  before  their  fait  bonds 
can  be  relieved.  If  there  had  been  no  other  fifh  but  herrings  in  the 
weftern  feas,  an  excufe  might  have  been  made.  liut  this  is  not  the 
cafe.  Thedog.fifti  are  fometimcs  to  be  met  with  in  fuch  va!t  num- 
bers, that  their  back  fins  are  fcen  like  a  thick  buth  of  fe;!gcs  above 
th(  water,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  A  boat-load  in  futh  a  Ihoal 
^  jndy  be  catched  with  a  few  hand-lines  in  an  hour  or  two.  A  \  alua- 
m^  oil  i«  extraAed  from  their  liver.  A  fillu-rman  at  Iflay  inform- 
^d  Dr.  Anderfon,  that  he  frequently  baited  aline  with  four  hcndrrd 
hooks,  for  the  fniall^jr.flat-fidi,  and  caught  at  one  haul,  three  hun- 

•  Report,  p.  43.  , 


■'Mm. 


{  4on 


dred  and  fifty.  They  confifted  of  turbot,  foal,  and  larjge  excellent 
flounders,  of  two  or  three  pounds  wciglit.  As  to  flcate  and  halybutji^ 
he  could  fill  his  boat  \yith  them,  when  he  chofe  it,  at  a  fmgle  haul. 
T  he  quantity  of  herrings  that  fometimcs  approach  the  coaft  in  one 
body  ,aliT!olt  exceeds  belief.  In  1 7 73»  a  (hoal  came  into  Loch  Ter- 
ridon.  Many  hundreds  of  boats  were  loaded  as  oft  as  the  owners 
thought  proper  for  two  months ;  and  the  quantity  caught  in  a  finglc 
night  has  been  computed  by  Dr.  Anderfon,  at  nineteen  thoufand 
eight  hundred  barrels.  Of  the  quantities  brought  afliore  upon  fuch 
occafi'jns,  a  great  part  are  frequently  fufFered  to  putrify,  for 
want  of  fait  to  cure  them.  The  remainder  are  cured  exclufively 
with  Iriih  fait,  for,  in  Dr.  Anderfon's  opinion,  as  already  obferved, 
five  hundred  thoufand  people  in  the  north  of  Scotland  employ  none 
elfe.  Thus  on  tl  e  one  hand,  the  heavinefs  of  the  tax  defeats  its 
own  purpolc,  and  on  the  other  hand,  as  the  fmugglers  of  fait  cannot 
obtain  open  leave  to  e>port  their  cargoes  of  tifli,  the  bufinefs  ends  in 
a  mere  waile  and  defirudion.  What  better  indeed  was  to  be  ex- 
pelled, wlifn  the  inhabitants  of  the  wcltern  iflands  came  under  the 
don.inationof  an  aflbmbly  of  legiflators  at  the  dillance  of  two  hun- 
dreti  leagues,  an  alll-mbly  who  defpifc  their  intercfts,  abhor  their 
profperiiy,  and  do  not  even  undcrliand  their  language  ? 

At  Loch  Carron.abouttiic year  I  775,  herrings  "  were fo throng, 
"  that  thoLi^<;h  the  loch,  fiom  the  narrow  entry,  is  above  a  league 
"  long,  and  in  fomc  places  above  a  mile  broad,  and  from  (ixtv  to 
"  four  fatlicms  deep,  it  was  indifferent  to  the  fifhers  whether  their 
*'  nets  wire  near  the  ground  or  furface  ;  they  were  equally  fure  to 
•'  ha\  c  them  loaded.  "^Ihey  continued  in  tl.i^  bay  for  five  weeks. 
"  On  the  weft  fide  of  Skye,  I  am  informed^  they  once  fwarmed  fo 
"  thick  inCaroy  loclr;  and  fo  many  were  caught,  that  they  could 
**  not  bo  carried  Oil:  and  after  the  buflVs  were  loaded,  and  the 
"  country  round  was  fcrved,  /he  neighbour  t/g  farmers  made  them  up 
•f  into  comp-.fhi  and  manurid  their  ground  with  them  the  enjuing  Jeafon. 
"  This  flioal  continued  many  years  upon  the  coaft,  but  they  were 
•*  not  in  every  year,  nor  in  ever)^ay  fo  thick  as  this  laft  ;  but  were 
«*  for  a  number  of  years  fo  much  fo,  that  all  the  bulles  made  car- 
*'  goesi  and  the  whole  coalls  were  abundantly  firvad.— At  Loch 
*'  Urn,  in  1767,  or  1768,  fuch  a  qtantity  ran  on  Jborrt  that  the 
"  beach,  for  lour  mil{*8  roiujd  the  head  of  the  loch,  waj.  *, 
•*  covered  with  them,  from  fix  to  eighteen  inches  deep;  an(Lpr 
"  the  ground  under  wafv  1,  fo  far  as  it  could  be  fcen  at  low  wateri 
*'  was  equally  fo.  I  believe  the  whole  bay,  from  tho  narrow  to  the 
"  mduth,  about  tweLe  miloL.  long,  and  a  lfa;nu*  broad,  uas 
•'  them.  J  am  alfo  of  opinion,  that  the  l^rongril  filh  bcin; 
*'  out,  in  forcing  their  way  into  ih?  inner  bay,'  du 
•*  lighted  and  wcakcft  on  fhorc.  So  thick  were  thcfe  h 
"  they    carried   before     them-  every  other   kind    of  fith 


i< 


met,  even  ground-fifli,    Ikate,   flounderJ,    &c.    and    pcrifticd 


^m 


i  41  ) 


**  t<^ther.*'*  With  fuch  inconceivable  quantities  of  fifti  athomCy 
we  can  be  under  no  neceflity  for  wandering  in  quell  of  employ  menc* 
to  Greenland,  to  Newfoundland,  to  Falkland's  iflands)  or  to  Noot- 
ka  Sound ;  and  of  obtaining  a  permifiion  for  fKb.ing  fo  far  off,  at  an 
cxpence  of  threCftmillions  fterling.  The  true  caufe  for  fuch  condud: 
is  fhortly  this.  At  the  union,  Scotland  came  under  the  yoke  of  an 
antient  nvali  hy  whom  fhe  was  equally  feared  and  deteiled ;  and  no 
advantaj^e  to  the  empire  in  general  could  conipenfate  to  the  pride  of 
England,  for  the  mortification  of  having  promoted  Scots  opulencc.t 

In  the  year  1784,  a  (hoM  of  herrings  came  into  Loch  Urn.  Mr. 
M'Donell  of  Barrifdal^,  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  in  the  courfe  of 
feven  or  eight  weeks  a  quantity  was  caught,  that,  if  brought  to 
market,  would  have  fold  for  fifty-fix  ihoufand  pounds  fterling. 
Double  the  quantity, might  have  been  taken,  but  for  the  want  of  fait 
and  of  calks.  Were  it  not  for  the  interruption  of  an  excife,  and 
fome  other  obvious  caufes,  the  fiihery  buiinefs  in  that  quarter  would 
be  more  lucrative  than  any  other  that  a  labourii.^  man  can  follow 
in  any  part  df  Britain.]: 

Thefe  examples  prove  what  immenfe  loads  of  fifh  might  be  kil- 
led, if  the  people  had  a  proper  fiipply  of  fait  and  of  calks  for  cur- 
ing them,  and  a  fuitable  market  for  felling  them ;  fo  that  they 
might  be  able  to  continue  at  the  fiihery  during  the  whole  time  which 
it  lafted.  At  pfcfent,  the  mifchief  that  is  left  undone  by  the  exor- 
bitant eXcife  upon  fait,  is  completed  by  the  pn  pfterous  terms  on 
which  the  bounty  is  granted.  When  a  bufs  has  completed  her  car- 
go, y6e  muji  abatidon  thtfijhing  entirely  {  and  none  of  her  hands  can 
return  to  it  again  in  lef^  than  eight  or  ten  weeks,  before  which 
time,  the  people  of  the  bufs  might  iiave  catched  perhaps  twenty 
loadings,  had  thet  been  permitted  to  remain, 

Fr>mthe  complicated  and  oppreflive  conditions  upon  which  the 
bounty  offered  by  parliament  has  been  granted*  there  is  ground  to 
queflion  whether  a  fingle  penny  of  it  has  ever  gone  into  the  pockets 
of  the  fifhermen.  Firll,  the  bounty  would  occafion  fo  great  an  ex- 
pence  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Hebrides,  that  they  are  entirely  out 
of  the  queflion.  Before  a  native  of  the  wellcrn  coalls  or  iflands,  can 
enter  himfelf,  even  as  a  private  mariner,  on  board  one  of  thofe 
vcfTels,  that  apply  for  the  bounty,  he  mull  go  to  Greenock,  Rothe- 
fay,  or  Campbciton,  and  there  wait  till  he  is  engaged  and  muftcrcd. 


•  Illuftrati«n$  of  the  report,  p.  158. 

+  The  prefcnt  metliod  of  paving  and  lighting  ihe  ftrtets  of  London,  ii,  as  an  im- 
pruvemtnt,  felt  in  the  mott  feDfible  manner  by  all  raiilis  and  degrees  of  people.  I'hc 
of  this  work  was  burrowed  from  the  h\^)\  Oreet  of  Edinburgh,  and  the  very 
es  for  the  pavement  were  imported  Irom  S.oti.tnd.      For  the  |tcrfonal  fjfcty  of  . 
gentlemen  concerned,  and  their   lamilies,  thcfe  ciicumf>ances  were  conccalcti 
rom  the  rabble  with  the  ftridlcft  caution,     'i'iicterocityot  vulgar  |>atriotifin  would 
not  h«yc  futfcrcd  the  acknowledgment  of  fuch  an  obligation   to  North«Britain,  a 
(uuntr^,  on  which  they  daily  exhaul^  tlic  vocabulary  ot  fiitringfgatr. 
I  Repot  f,  p.   14.  t 


(    4*    ) 

If  this  happen?  at  one  of  the  two  former  places,  he  proceeds  to 
Campbelton  to  be  rendezvoufed.  Thefe  marches  and  counter- 
marches confume  a  month  or  fix  weeks  of  timci  and  a  great  deal  of 
money.  At  laft  he  returns  to  the  very  fpot  from  whence  he  fet 
out.*  Thus  it  would  be  impoffible  for  a  Hebridean  or  weft  High- 
lander, ever  to  fend  a  bufs  on  fuch  a  circuitous  voyage,  for  he  would 
be  obliged  to  difpatch  her  a  fecond  time  to  the  fouth,  toa^fecond 
rendezvous,  and  to  be  at  the  charge  of  her  making  a  fecondt  return 
home.  She  would  thus  be  forced  to  perform yo«r  voyages  inftead 
oftiuo.  The  door  to  the  pretended  bounty,  is  by  this  means  both 
ihut  and  bolted  againft  the  weftern  Highlandws.  Even  to  the  buffes 
that  earn  it,  the  bounty  is  but  a  mere  delufion.  On  the  caft  coall  of 
Scotland,  the  cuftom-hoiife  fees,  on  fitting  out  fuch  a  veffelof  thirty 
tons,  are  about  feven  pounds.  The  bounty  is  only  forty-five 
pounds.  The  time  wafted  in  going  to  a  place  of  rendezvous,  be- 
fore (he  fails,  and  again  at  her  return,  coft^a  month  of  delay,  and 
a  charge  of  twenty  pounds.  Thus  more  than  one  half  gf  the  boun- 
ty is  already  funk.  In  the  fecond  place,  ftie  is  prohibited  from 
catching  any  fi(h  but  herrings.  On  that  account,  (he  muft  have  nei- 
ther lines  nor  hooks  on  board.  Though  furrounded  by  whales  and 
^og-fifh,  cod,  ling,  mackarel,  *&nd  other  aquatic  tribes  that  follow 
the  herrings  in  vaft  numbers,  the  men  in  thefe  veflels,  when  her- 
rings do  not  come  in  their  way,  are  kept  idle  for  Wfeeks  together, 
while  charges  multiply  on  the  head  of  the  undertaki^r.t  A  thifd 
heavy  obftruftion  is,  that  all  the  hands  in  the  bufs  muft- be  mufter- 
ed  at  the  cuftom-houfe,  not  only  before  failing,  but  after  the  vrjfei 
returns.  Thus  many  fifliers  muft  be  carried  back  to  the  rendezvous, 
who  are  fuperfluous  for  navigating  the  bufs,  and  who  would  other- 
wife  be  left  on  the  fifhing  ground  till  the  end  of  the  feafon  ;  and  this 
regulation  alfo  is  very  burdenfome  to  the  owner.  The  bounty  is 
thus  utterly  confumed  in  complying  with  afyftemof  regulations  as' 
fantafiical,  and  a  thoufand  times  more  pernicious,  than  the  conful- 
ihip  of  Caligula's  horfe.J 

*  Report,  p.  44,  f  lUuilrations  of  the  report,  p.  184. 

X  Foreigners  unacquainted  with  the  current  ftyle  of  Bri|i(h  converfation,  may 
tondemn  comparifons  like  th^t  in  the  text.  Let  us  hear  with  what  reverence  the 
Icgillators  of  this  country  fpeak  and  think  of  eac'i  other. 

The  Earl  of  Buchan  hath  jiift  now  publi(hed  the  lives  of  Fletcher  of  Salton,  and 
ef]ames  Thomfon.  He  there  tells  us,  that  he  once  faid  to  Lord  Chatham, 
"  What  will  become  of  poor  England,  thjtdoatson  the  imperfeflions  of  her  prc- 
••  /f»(/t'</conftitution  ?"  Clntham  replied,  "The  gout  will  difpofc  of  me  foon 
"  enough  to  prevent  me  from  feeling  the  confequences  ofthis/«/*j///(j//ow;  but,  bt- 
♦•  fore  the  end  of  ih'iK  century y  either  the  parliament  will  reform-  itfelf  from  'withiH% 
•*  or  be  reformed  with  a  ven;;eance  from  without. "  Thus  fpoke  oneof  the  martert  fc 
of  thepuppet-fhew.  It  is  beyond  the  compafs  of  human  laneun^e  to  exprcfs  thdip 
depth  of  contempt  an. Idctcftation,  couched  under  thffe  few  words. 

On  the  28th  of  FcSruary,  1785,  tdmuiid  Burke  addrcffed  the  Houfe  of<iCom- 
mons,  concerning  the  aftonifliingcompofition  made  with  tlie  creditors  of  the  wr.bob 
•fArcot.     In  this  affair,  Mr.  I'itt  and    Mr>  Dundat  %ere  the  principals,  »xA  Kfl 


(    43    ) 


•  As  the  Hcbridcans  cannot  embrace  the  terms  of  the  boun- 
ty, they  are  therefore  at  liberty  to  continue  at  the  fi(hing  as 
long  as  they  pleafe.  They  are  idhe  or  bufy,  juft  as  thry  are  fup- 
plied  with  fait.  When  a  fmuggling  falt-boat  arrives,  they  will  get 
perhaps  fix  (hillings /^r  barrel  for  their  herrings,.  As  that  fait  is  ex- 
pended, the  price  falls  to  five,  four,  three,  two,  one  (hilling  /?r 
barrel,  and  fometimcs  to  fix-pence  or  eight-pence.  At  other  times, 
you  may  purchafe  a  barrel  of  fine  frefli  herrings,  for  a  fingle  quid 
of  tobacco.*  A  barrel  contains  from  fix  to  fixtcen  hundred  her- 
rings, according  to  their  fize. 

It  feems  needlefs  to  enlarge  much  farther  on  the  immenfe  advan- 
tages that  might  be  derived  from  this  inexhauftible  refource  for  the 
induftry  and  fubfiftence  of  the  Scots  nation.  If  the  bounties  and 
taxes  were  at  once  abolilhed,  and  the  Dutch  prohibited  from 
interfering  in  the  fifhery,  the  Hebrides  and  the  weftern  coafis  of 
Scotland,  would  perhaps  in  thecourfeof  thirty  or  forty  years,  qua- 
d  ruple  their  prefent  population.  It  might  with  rcafon  be  expected, 
that  thoufands  of  the  Dutch  mariners,  who  are  at  prefent  employed 
in  that  bufinefs,  would  come  and  fettle  in  the  country.  Multitudes 
would  likewife  flock  from  different  quarters  of  Britain.  Vil- 
lages of  manufa(fturers  would  by  degrees  be  eftablifhed,  and  the 
Hebrides  would  prefent  a  profped  of  induftry,  of  profperity,  and  of 
happinefs,  which  the  moft  fanguine  friend  to  national  improvements 
can  at  prefent  hardly  conjedure.  To  make  this  afiTertlon  intelligible^ 
and  to  Ihow  what  benefits  may  be  derived  from  the  BritiHi  fi(heries» 
no  writer  can  be  ciied  with  more  propriety  than  John  De  Witt, 
Grand  Penfioner  of  Holland.  He  informs  us,  on  the  authority  of 
Sir  Walter  Rawleigh,  that  in  the  year  1618,  the  Hollanders  em- 
ployed on  the  coaft  of  Britain,  three  thoufand  (hips,  and  fifty  thou- 
fand  men  f  and  that  for  tranfporting  and  felling  the  fifli  fo  taken, 
and  bringing  home  the  retuins  for  them,  they  required  nine  thou- 
fand additional  (hips,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  men. 
Perhaps  this  eftimate  was  exaggerated,  but  the  real  number  of  men 
and  of  (hips  engaged  in  Britifli  fifheries  muft  have  been  very  great. 
De  Witt  quotes  a  Dutch  writer,  who  relates,  that  in  the  fpace  ol  three 
days,  in  the  year  1601,  there  failed  out  of  Holland  to  thceafiward, 
between  eight  and  nine  hundred  (hips,  and  fifteen  hundred  bulTes  for 
the  herring  fifhery.  The  Grand  Penfioner  adds,  that  from  the  time 
of  Sir  Walter  Rawleigh,  to  the  year  1667,  the  Dutch  filhcrics  had 

thus  defcribes  their  conJiidl.  "  Let  no  man  hereafter  talk  of  the  decaying  ener- 
^**  gies  of  nature.  All  the  a<fts  and  monuments  in  the  records  of  peculation  ;  the 
'  "^confolidatcd  corruption  of  ages  ;  the  patterns  of  exemplary  plunder  in  the  heroic 
*•  *i«^es  of  Roman  iniquity,  never  equalled  the  gigantic  corruption  of  ti's  Jingh 
I  Never  did  Nero,  in  all  the  infolent  prodigality  of  defpotifm,  deal  out  to  hit 
torian  guards,  a  donation  tit  to  be  named  with  the  lar^cfs  Ihowcred  down, 
he  bounty  of  our  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  (Mr.  Pitt),  on  the  liutlifui 
J  of  his-Indiun  Seapoys." 

JHyftrationi  of  the  report,  p.  l6j. 


y^'^'W' 


(    44    ) 


been  increafed  one  third  part.  He  conjeftures  that  the  United 
Provinces  contained  two  millions  and  four  hundred  thoufand  people, 
and  of  thefe,  that  four  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  perfons  derived 
their  fubiiftence  from  the  filheries,  and  the  commerce  and  manufac- 
tures which  depejided  upon  them.*  Thefe  particulars  are  here  fpe- 
cified  to  prove  that  Dr.  Anderfon  has  not  on  this  fubjeft  made  an 
extravagant  fuppofition.  He  eftimates  that  one  hundred  thoufand 
fiihermen  might  find  conftant  employment  in  the  Britifh  feas.  He 
thinks  that  if  this  number  of  fifliermen  were  employed,  there 
would  likewife  be  wanted,  tjventy  or  thirty  thoufand  mariners  for 
tranfporting  the  cargoes  to  market,  and  for  bringing  the  neceflary 
return  of  fait,  of  coals,  ofgrain,  of  cdlks,  of  the  materials  for  (hip- 
btiilding,  and  the  myimberlefs  articles  dependent  on  an  extenl»vc 
fifliery.+  If  we  fuppofe  that  one  half  of  thefe  mariners  were  mar- 
ried, and  that  the  hufbands  had  on  an  average  four  children,  the  tb- 
tal  amount  of  their  families  would  be  three  hundred  thoufand  per- 
fons* Thefe  added  to  an  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  feamen, 
would  make  in  whole  an  addition  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  thou- 
fand Britifti  _/if^yc//j4  But  this  is  not  all.  Thefe  mariners  and 
their  families  would  not  only  fupply  a  great  part  of  the  nation 
with  an  important  article  of  fubfiftence,  and  thus  lefTen  the 
wages  of  labour,  but  they  would  afford  among  themfelves 
a  wide  inarket  for  the  commodities  of  the  farmer  and  manu- 
fadturer.  They  would  thus  in  a  double  way  promote  the  public  in-, 
tereft.  They  would  lefTen  the  expence  of  fubfiftence,  and  at  the 
fame  time,  they  would  multiply  the  excitements  to  induftry.  The 
attainment  of  thefe  two  obje«5ls  is  the  very  Alpha  zn<i  Omega  of  na- 
tional profperity.  We  fliould  then  fee  land,  which  gives  not  at 
prefent  one  (hilling  per  acre  of  rent,  produce  from  three  to  fix 
pounds  fterling.§  We  (hould  fee  a  barren  wafte  of  ftonel  and  bogs, 
with  fcarce  a  (ingle  blade  of  grafs  upon  it,  converted  into  luxuriant 
crops  of  wheat  and  clover.  Manufafturing  villages  would  rife  in 
the  wildernefs,  that  is  now  only  Idiftinguifhed  by  monumental 
veftigesofthe  Pifts  or  the  Druids.  The  farmers  and  manufai^u- 
rers  would  very  likely  increafe  to  an  equal  number  with  that  of  the 
fiihermen,  and  Britain  might  thus  acquire  an  augmentation  of  eight 

•  The  True  Iiitereft  and  Political  Maxims  of  Holland,  part  i,  chapters  6  and  9, 
tranflatedby  John  Campbell,  and  printed  at  London,  in  1746.  Dr.  Anderfon,  in 
his  Evidence  before  the  committee  of  fifheries,  declares,  on  the  authority  of  De 
Witt  and  others,  that  in  the  laft  century,  two  hundred  innd  lixiy  thoufand  perfons 
werecomputedtobe<'«/>/c>',Vby  Holland  JH  the  fiflieries  alone.  I  mention  th«fe 
difle rent  numbers  without  knowing  how  to  reconcile  them.  r"^ 

f  Evidence  before  the  committee,  page  317. 

X  This  word,  in  its  original  fenfe  implies  fomething  that  is  caji  down  and  /i 
underfoot.     When  applied  in  its  cammon  acceptation,  the  choice  ofexprel 
happy. 


t 


^  This  has  aflually  happened  in  Aberdeenfliire.     T'>e  reader  may  confultM:": 
•flay  in  the  Bee.  vol.  7.  />.  189.  Jk^  wM 


-*# 


(    45^ 

Iittndred  and  fony  thourand  inhabitants.    The  example  of  HolLinil^s 
fhews  that  this  conjedlurc  is  not  chimerical.    As  the  Hebrides  and 
weftern  coafts  of  Scotland  contain  by  hf  the  greateft  and  moft  im- 

.  portant  part  of  this  fifhery,  they  would  have  a  chance  of  ac- 
quiring an  addition  of  feven  hundred  thoufand  people.  An 
hundredth  part  of  the  millions  expended  upon  an  ordinary 
French  war,  muft  have  been  fufficient  to  found  a  colony  of  filher- 
men  in  th^  Hebrides,  worth  all  our  foreign  poffeffions  put  together. 
But  fuch  a  colony  would  not  have  anfwered  the  purpofes  of  minifte- 
rial  corruption.  They  would  not  have  entangled  us  in  a  quarrel  with 
the  reft  of  Europe.  They  would  not  have  fupplied  our  rulers  with 
a  plaufible  pretence  for  loading  the  public  witn  extravagant  taxes. 
"Mr.  Pittfpeaks  of  difcharging  the  national  debt,  and  of  promoting 
the  public  profperity.     At  the  fame  time  he  accepts  a  Scots  reve- 

'  nue  of  five  thoufand  pounds,  that  is  raifed  at  an  expence  of  ten 
thoufand.  He  gives  half  a  guinea  per  day  to  bludgeon- men  to  drive 
the  eleftorsof  John  HorneTooke,  from  the  huttings  at  Weftmin- 
fter;  and  an  annuity  of  five  hundred  and  ninety-five  thoufand,  two 
hundred  pounds  fterling,  to  the  immaculate  creditors  of  the  Nabob 
of  Ariot.* 

Of  minifterial  vigilance  in  colleifting  the  fait  duties  in  the  Scots 
Highi^nds,  the  following  particulars  will  afford  a  proper  concep- 
tion. <'  In  thefe  cafes,  the  mifcarriage  of  a  letter,  (and  to  places 
**  where  no  regular  poft  goes,  this  muft  frequently  happen,)  the 
"  carelefsnefs  of  an  ignorant  fl.ip-mafter,  the  miftake  of  a  clerk  in 
♦*  office,'  or  other  circiimftanccs,  equally  tiivial,  often  involve  a 
*(  whole  induftrious  family  in  ruin.  There  are  inftances  of  men 
'*  being  brought  to  Edinburgh,  froiA  many  hundred  miles  diftance^ 
"  to  the  negleft  of  their  own  affairs,  merely  becaufe  of  fome  neg- 
«*  left  orl^miffion  of  fome  petty  clerk  in  office;  which,  when  rec- 
«*  tificd,  brings  no  other  relief,  excepting  a  perm'tjton  to  return  home 
«*  viith  HO  farther  had  ofdebtf  but  the  ex^en:e  of  fuch  ajourneyy  and 

G 

•  The  particulars  of  this  edifying  tranfaflion  are  to  be  found  in  the  wot  Its  of 
Edmund  Burke,  the  bofom  friend  of  the  "  heaven-born  minifter."  A  concife  ac- 
count of  it  will  be  given  in  the  Political  Progrefs,  Part  1 1.  As  to  the  Weftminfter 
cledlion,  fu^|information  may  be  had  from  Proceed ingt  in  an  aEiionfor  debt  betivttn 
the  right  honourable  Charles  jamti  Fox^  plaintiffs  and  John  Horne  Tooke^  E/q. 
dtfendantf  printed  in  179Z,  ofwhichalfoa  fummary  is  to  be  hereafter  inferted. 
When  the  legiAature  of  a  country  condfts  of  fuch  charaflers,  it  is  not  wonderful 
that  our  ftatute  books  are  crowded  with  the  moft  atrocious  edids.  As  one  fpecimen 
out  of  hundredsi  obferve  what  follows. 

'^niTjOy  alawwasmadc,  which  declares,  "That  all  perfons  killing  game,  on 
*  any  pretence  whatever,  above  an  hour  before  fun-rife,  orafter  fun-fet,  (hall  with- 
',  •*  out  rcfpcdt  toy?*  or  ff«fl///y,  and  without  any  altei  native  or  redrmption,  he  com- 
••  mitted  to  prifon  for  tnret  months  at  leaft ;  tnd  be  publicly  vhipped  at  noon-day^ 
••  in  the  town  where  the  prifon  is  ittuated."  Thus,  after  giving  government  three 
i^KM  foV  leave  to  kill,  upon  your  own  ground, «  hare  thUt  \%  dear  of  fix-pence,  you 
imb]^  this  law,  fubjcdt  to  be  whipped  for  it,  whatever  may  be  your  fex  or  condi- 
Thii  notable  penalty  hath  fince  beta  refttiAed  to  a  fine  of  five  pounds  (ler- 


(    46    ) 


it 


"  the  lofs  ifhas  octnfioned.  But  ftiould  the  cafe  be  otherwife,  and 
ihould  the  miftake  have  been  committed  by  the  poor  country- 
man, though  that  miftakc  originated  yrj«  ignorance  onlyt  or  Was 
occafionedby  the  lofs  of  a  letter,  ingoing  to  places  where  no  re* 
gular  pofts  are  eftablifhed,  he  becomes  loaded  with  additional 
burdens,  which,  in  many  cafes,  all  his  future  induflry  and  care 
<*  will  never  enable  him  to  difcharge.* 

Dr.  Smith,  in  his  Inquiry  into  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  adverts 
to  the  Scots  herring  filhefy.  He  fays,  that  during  eleven  years, 
from  1 77 1,  to  1781,  inclufive,  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  thoufand 
four  hundred  and  fixty-three  pounds,  eleven  iliillings  fterling  of 
bounties  were  paid  on  account  of  it.  This  was,  in  proportion  to 
fhe  whole  quantity  of  herrings  caught,  a  premium  of  twelve  Ihil* 
lings  and  three-pence,  three  farthings /^r  barrel;  and  this  kind  of 
barrels  are  worth,  upon  an  average,  about  a  guinea.f  Thus  the  le- 
giflature  paid  four-fevenths  of  the  market  price  of  a  barrel  of 
herrings,  as  a  bounty  to  the  perfons  who  caught  them.  Two- 
thirds  of  the  bufs-caoght  herrings  are  exported ;  and  here,  a  fecond 
bounty  is  given,  of  two  (hillings  and  eight-pence /^-r  barrel. ,  The 
average  number  of  veifels  employed  for  thefe  elevei.  years  was 
about  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine.  "  Three  thousand  bus- 
*»  s  Bs  have  been  known  to  be  employed  in  one  year  by  the  Dutch  in  the 
"  (Scots)  herring  fifhery.befides  thofe  fitted  out  by  the  Hamburgh- 
**  crs,  Bremeners,  and  other  northern  ports.;):"  By  the  efliroate  of  Sir 
Walter  Rawleigh,  already  cited,  a  Dutch  bufs  carries  fixteen  hands 
and  two-thirds.  If  we  compute  that  the  veifels  engaged  in 
onr  fifhery  by  foreign  nations  amount^  all  together,  to  four 
thoufandj  and  that  each  carries  only  twelve  hands,  here  'are  forty- 
eight  thoufand  foreign  failors  reaping  the  maritime  harveft  of  Scot- 
land. The  bounty  firft  promifed  by  parliament  for  veffels,  was  fif- 
ty (hillings  per  ton.  Mr.  Guthrie  fays  that  <*  the  bounty  waswith- 
*<  \\t\<^  from  year  to  year,  while  in  the  mean  time  the  adventurers 
**  were  not  or^Xy  fink'mg  their  fortunes^  but  alfo  borrowing  to  the  ut- 
"  tmft  limits  ofthfir  credit."^  It  was  then  reduced  tO  thirty  (hil- 
lings. The  veifels  are  fitted  out  from  the  north-weft  parts  of  Eng- 
land, the  north  of  Ireland,  the  ports  of  Clyde,  <*  and  the  neighbour- 
"  i"g  iftf^fds"^  It  thus  appears,  in  oppofition  fo  whit  was  faid 
above,f  that  the  Hebridcans  are  not  '*  entirely  out  of  the  quef- 
**  tion,"  as  to  the  bounty.  But  the  whole  aftair  is  an  abfolute  tri- 
fle, fince  the  Hollanders  fend  cut  ten  or  fifteen  times  as  many  buff-s 
twithout  ofiy  bounty^at  all,  as  the  Britilh  parliament  can. colled  by  a 
bounty  equal  to  four-fevenths  of  the  value  of  ill  the  herrings  tal^;  ^^■ 


♦  lU.uftrations  of  the  report,  p.  i8g. 
+  Inquiry,  Book  iv.   chap,  5. 
"^  Guthrie's  Geographical  Grammar. 
Art.  Scot  LAND, 
p.  4T. 


^  Ibid. 
I  Supra. 


Art.  Islai^ds  of  Scotla|}»m 
11  Ibid.  ^, 


(    47    ) 


(( 
(( 
<« 
«( 

it 


$ 


#' 


befides  the  remiffion  pf  fait;  duties,*  and  a  fubfequcnt  bounty  on 
exjportation.  Mr^  Guthrie  Complains  with  jullice,  that  "  this  uoblc 
«  inftitution,  (viz.  the  bounty,)  ftill  labours  under  many  difficulties) 
•*  from  the  caprice  and  ignorance  of  the  legiflature."  Thus  an  hun- 
dred thoufand  feamen,  and  perhaps  a  million  of  fubjedls  arc  loft  to 
Britain. 

A  committee  of  the  Houfe  of  Commons,  in  one  of  their  reports, 
acknowledge,  **  that  the  prefent  duties  upon  coals  are  too  high,  and 
*<  operate  more  as  a  prohibition  on  the  ufe  of  the  article,  than  as  a 
**  betiefit  th  the  rrveftueA"  The  confeouences  of  the  coaUtax  are 
fpecided  in  many  pafTages  of  the  ftatiftical  account  of  Scotland. 
Perhaps  the  greateft  barrier  againft  houfhold  induilry  and  manu- 
fadure  among  us,  is  the  ftarcity  of  fuel  in  many  parts  of  the 
country.  A  human  being,  pinched  with  cold,  when  confined 
within  doors,  is  always  an  inaSiive  being.  The  day-light  during 
winter,  is  fpentby  many  of  the  women  and  children  in  gathering 
eldiwgy  as  they  call  it ;  that  is,  fticks,  furze,  or  broom,  for  fuel ; 
and  the  evening  in  warming  their  (hivering  limbs  before  the 
fcanty  fire  it  produces.  Could  mr  legtjlators  be  conduced  through 
**  this  pariih,  (Kirkenrer,  in  thit  county  of  Wigton,)  in  the  win- 
"  ter  months,  could  the  lords  and  eommonst  during  the  Chriflmas  re- 
**  cefs,  vifit  the  cottages  of  the  poor  through  thefe  parts  of  the 
"  umted  kingdoms,  where  nature  hath  refufed  coal,  and  their  laws 
«  have  more  than  dmhled  the  price  of  it,  this  would  be  Shakefpeare's 
"  twh^fome  phyfc,  and  would, %iore  than  ?iny  thing  elfe,  quicken 
'<  their  invention  to*fiq|j^ways  and  means  for  fupplymg  the  place  of 
*^  the  'worfl6flarws*'%  auch  legiflators  ought  to  be  Tent  to  bride- 
well during  the  recefs,  and  to  remain  there,  fed  on  bread  and  water, 
and  without  fire  or  candle,  to  thejend  of  the  feffion.  Dr.  Smith, 
in  his  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments,  remarks,  that  the  great  nerjetC 

.^  On  Scots  fah*  the  duty  is  one  (hilling  and  flz-pence  per  bufliel,  on  foreign 
fait  ten  (hillings.    The  latter  chiefly  if' confutned  by  the  buifes. 

f  Appendix  to  Dr.  Anderfon's  account  of  the  Hebrides,  p.  330.  •<,>' 

\  StJtiftical  Account,  vol.  iv.  p.   147. 

The  work  fwarms  with  complatnu  on  this  head.  This  (imple  paftor  appears  ta 
know  but  little  of  Briti(h  lords  and  commons,  when  he  appeals  to  their  fenfibility. 
Take  notice  to  what  follows, 

**  A  late  ball  given  by  lord  Courtney,  coft  (ix  thonfandf  uineas.  Ho  had,  among 
'*  other  rarities,  a  thoufand  peaches  at  a  guinea  each,  a  thoufand  pottles  of  cherries 
"  at  five  (hillings  each,  a  thoufand  pottles  of  (Irawberrres  at  five  (hillings  each,  and 
"  every  other  article  in  the  fame  proportion."  London  Newfpapers,  5th  May, 
1792. — Another  newfpaper,  fome  time  ago,  had  this  article. 

*•  To  fuch  a  degree  of  perfection  arc  dog- kennels  now  brought,  that  one  lately 
"  builtby  Sir  William  Rowley,  athisfeat  in  Suffolk,  covers  four  acres  of  ground. 
**  Among  other  accommodations  for  hh  hounds,  he  has  ere^ed  a  warm  bath,  through 
**  4ivhich  each  dog  is  regularly  purified,  alter  each  day's  chafe." 

A^endosa,  thebruifer,  fome  time  ago  refufed  lb  fettle  the  terms  of  a  boxing- 
inatch,  until  he  had  confulted  bjp  intimate frltfid,  the  duke  of  l^Unilton.  A  letter 
from  him  to  this  tSt&t  appeared  in  the  public  prints,  (fis  grKe,  not  long  after, 
invited  iisjriend.ta  a  vifit  at  the  place  of  Hamilton.     One  day,  after  dinner,  th« 


(     4?    ) 


I 


cvnfider their  ififerhrSiOs  their fello'Vo  criat^f^, ^^^k\it  Bfitlfll  land* 
holders  illuHrate,  on  all  occafions,  the  veracity*  of  l^b  maxim.  In 
England,  this  tax  on  coals,  when  tranfported  by  fea»  |ias  been  ve- 
ry hurtful.  "  One  would  think"  fays  lord  Kaims^-^^that  it  Vi'as  in- 
"  tended  to  check  population. — One  may,  at  the  flrft  glance  dtf- 
"  linguifh  the  coal  counties  from  the  reft  of  England,  by  the  in. 
**  dultiy  of  the  inhabitants,  and  by  plenty  of  roanufa^uring  town* 
*'  and  villages.'**  '    . 

In  the  year  ending  on  the  5th  of  January,  1789,  the  fait  duties 


for  Scotland,  produced  in  whole 

Salaries,  incidents,  bounties  and  drawbacks. 

Net  produce  of  the  fait  tax         -*      - 


^.18043 
8749 


o 
9 


III 


9293  10 


1 4+ 


Dr.  Andcrfon  hasjuft  now  puWiihcd  a  ftate  of  the  bounties  paid 
annually  by  government,  upon  the  Scots  fiflieries,  and  of  the  pre- 
miums, upon  the  exportation  of  Scott  herrings,^  They  amount, 
in  round  numbers,    to  tnjiitnty-t<vio    ihoujand   pounds  \er  annum* 

duke  introduced  t}  his  company  the  rubje^oflioxing.  He  extolled  the  talent^  of 
the  Jetv,  9nd  requeued  leave  to  bring  bini  in,  that  the  gentlemen  prefeat  might 
fee  the  proficiency  of  his  grace  id  fparring.  Accordingly,  the  parties  ftript,  a 
ring  was  formed,  and  the  cormbat  began.  The  duke  did  notftrike  fair,  of  which  he 
was  repeatedly  warned  by  his  friend.  The  man  was  at  laft  fo  exafperated  by  his 
gr.ice  peKilling  in  foul  play,  that  he  gave  hira  a  ftroke  in  earndl:,  which  fitnt  the 
duke  of  Hamilton  ftaggering  to  the  other  en^f  the  room.  His  grace  was  carried 
to  bed,  and  the  company  dif^rfed. '  Mendozii  was  lately  in  a  Dublin  tap-room. 
His  name  was  difcovered,  and  he  was  direAly  orihred  to  quit  the  Houfe.  So  di^ 
ferent  are  the  citizens  of  Dublin  from  this  Sicbts  Duke,  in  their  choiet  of  cotnpany. 

The  prince  of  VV^les  broughtlo  Newmarket,  fome  time  ago,  a  race-horfe  of  high 
reputation.  Bctts  were  laid  in  his  favoy,  but  when  he  came  upon  the  turf,  he' fell 
far  behind.  He  was  matched  to  run  a  ^ond  time  next  day,  and  betts  were  laid 
Vith  a  very  great  odds  againft  him.  'Kxixa^Am^^tx  accepted  the  odds^  and  betted 
to  a  very  large  amount  in  favour  of  his  horfe.  The  whole  alTemblage  of  black-legs 
confidered  the  prince  as  completely /<i/tf»/«.  ,  But  he  very  foon  convinced  them  that 
he  was  mere  than  a  match  for  the  whole  gang,  at  their  own  weapons.  On  this  fe- 
cond  day,  his  horfe  refumed  his  farmer  fuperiority,  and  won  the  race  with  eafe.  It 
was  faid,  that  the  duke  of  Bedford  alone,  loft,  by  this  mafterly  ftroke  pfjockeyfhip, 
twelve  thoufand  pounds  fterling.  The  newfpapers  eftimated  the  total  balance  in  fa- 
vour of  the  prince,  from  fifty  to  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds.  Such  was  the  trU 
umph  of 

"  Our  eldcft  hope,  divine  lulus, 

'•  Late,  very  late,  O  may  he  rule  us  f** 
His  groom  was  examined,  and,  as  a  fwindler,  forevlr  exiled  from  the  turf.     Thf 
fatary  of  fifty  thoufand  pounds  a-year,  paid  to  this  hopeful  prince,  commenced 
about  the  ift  of  January,  1781. 

<,  •  Sketches  of  the  Hiftory  of  Man,  vd.  t.  p.  4S6.  Quarto  edition. 

■!■  Hiftcwyofthe  Public  Revenue?,  parti  11.  chap.  6.  «  *' 

"^  This  premium,  as  above  ftated,  is  two  flxilltngs  and  eight-pence /i^r  baitefi. 
Dr.  Anderfon  has  blended  underope  of  thefe  articles,  **  herrings  and  hard JJi(kX' 
**  ported  from  England,  two  thdtafand  pounds."  JIard  fifh  had  no  bufindili  in* 
ftatement  about  hcrringn  an4  fonic  dedud/on  fro#the  fum  total^  (ho!({)id,t|ie  madl 
on  account  of  them.  ,* 


ill 


„4- 


'./'" 


■  ¥■  ■. 


,•  * 


A  foclety  in  Scotland  forencoura^ngthe  filhery*  give  about  ^ 
thou/and  [lounds.  The  Scots  board  of  cpftoms  expend  about  ten 
thoufand  pqunds  annually  for  cruizers  to  prevent  fmugg^g ;  of 
which  fum,  the  Doftor  ftatcs  one  half,  or  fvf  thou/aad  pounds,  to 
the  accompt  of  fait  duties.  Thus,  the  bounties,  premiums,  and  cruiz- 
ers coil  all  together,  twenty-nine  thoufand  pounds  a  year.*  The 
net  fev^nue  of  fait  fur  the  whole  kingdom  is  about  nine  thoufand 
pounds^  Thus  twenty  thoufand  pounds  are  funk.  If  parliament 
would  only  abol^lh  the  tax,  and  order  the  Dutch  and  other  foreign- 
ers to  ftay  at  home,  an  hundred  thoufand  mariners,  and  a  million 
of  fubje^s  inight  foon  be  added  to  the  population  of  Britain. 

We  have  feen  the  miferable  efiet^s  of  the  coal*  tax.  The  Scoti 
duties  upon  fait  and  coals  together  produce  hardly  a  net  eighteen 
thoufand  pounds  a  year  to  the  exchequer.^  At  the  fame  time,  the 
Scots  mint,  where  notxven  a  copper  farthing' has  been  ioined  for 
eighty^five  yeats>  cofts  the  public  annually 
The  keeper  of  the  great  fesd  - 
The  keeper  of  the  privy  feal 
The  lord  juftice  general  .-.  -  - 
The  lord  regifter  -    *%^    -  -         -;- 

The  commander  in  chief  of  the  lifcea  in  North-3titain     '» 
The  vice-admiral      -  -  -       .     -^     « 

The  knight  mari&hal       -  -  -  .      y^i  • 

The  figui  *:>office  is  a  Jirfd  tax  upon  the  public,  and  it  no# 

nets  to  the  keeper,  Mr.  Dundas        *  - 

The  fafine-ofiice,  the  tees  of  which  are  a  feconditiie^  tax, 
nets  to  its  keeper  about  two  thoufand  pounds,  be- 
fides  a  falary  from  government,  of ^wo  huncbred^ 


:M» 


£»  1000 
3000 
3000 
2000 
1200 

I40O 
1000 

400 

3000 


more 


'S* 


-  ;-|l»oOf; 


l8,2( 


ill"- 


Every  one  of  tbefe  places  ir  in  abfoMte  fmecure,  the  duties ,  of 
vi^ich  are  not  difcharged  by  the  perfons  who  receive  the  aamftl 
Some  of  them  have  nothing  to  do,  but  in  every  one  of  them,  where, 
bufinefs  is  really  tranfa^e^^  t^e  deputies  are  paid  over  and  above^ 
and  fometimes  very  extravagantly,  at  the  aJdi/ionai  txpence  of  the 
public.  The  total  charge  to  the  nation  for  thefe  ten  bubbles  extends, 
as  above  fpecified,  to  eighteen  thoufand,  two  bundled  and  fixty 
pounds  fterling  per  annum.  Thus  hath  one  part  of  us  been  loaded 
with  the  plunder  of  the  reft.  Thus  are  fix  or  eight  hundred  thou- 
fand Scots  people  kept  in  a  ftate  of  comparative  beggary,  by  the 
fayment  of  fait  and  coal  duties,  whfle  fix  or  eight  folitary  penfioneS 
xiot  on  the  robbery  of  the  poor. 

*  ♦  The  Bee.  vol.  xi.  p.  a6. 
i  Hiftor;  of  the  Public  Reveone.  part  III.  chap.  6.  ' 


(    50    ) 

But,  the  praftice  of  granting  enormous  penfions,  has  been  carried 
infinitely  farther  in  England,  than  on  the  north  of  Tweed.  As  the 
fubjeffl  IS  but  imperfedly  underftood,  it  may  be  worth  while  to 
compare  the  Brobdignag  peculators  of  London  with  the  Lilliputians 
of  the  fame  kind  in  this  country.  For  this  end,  we  may  confult  a 
curious  and  authentic  aflembl^e  of  evidence  publifhed  ^^by  paidni- 
ment.  During  the  war  with  America,  they  appointed  commiflion- 
ers  to  examine  the  (late  of  public  uccounts.  The.  office  was  per- 
formed with  fidelity,  and  the  reports  were  publifhed.  In  the  uxth 
report,  we  learn,  that  the  auditor  of  the  exchequer  received  in  the 
year  1780,  from  his  place  a  clear  profit  of  -  j^.  141016  4  1 
His  firft  clerk  .  .  ... 
The  clerk  of  the  pells  -  -  -  . 
The  four  tellers  of  the  exchequer,  - 
The  ulher  of  the  exchequer         -        -        - 


'2,752 

-  7^597 
29,267 

4,200 


3 
12 

4 


X 

4I 


Total  to  eight  perfons,        £.  57>^33    4 


The  commiifioners  recommend  theji  abolition  of  this  laft  office. 
j  They  obferve,  that  **  the  chief,  ifl^t  the  only  prefent  duty  of  the 
I  •*  ufher,  is  to  fupply  the  treafury  aiid  exchequer  with  ftationary  and 
i  <'  turnery  ware,  and  a  variety  of  other  articles,  ind  the  exchequer 
1  •*  with  coals,  and  to  provide  workmen  for  certain  repairs."    In 
,1780,  he  jprovided  articles  and  repairs  to  the  amount  of  fourteen 
''  thoufand,  four  hundred  and  forty  pounds,  thrte  (hiitings  and  iix- 
;  pence.    On  the  articles,  he  was  entitled  to  the  very  moderate  com. 
niiffion  of  forty /i?r  cent, ;  (o  that  the  poft  muft,  from  the  firft  hour 
of  its  exiftence,  have  been  defigned  as  a  job.  The  net  profits  were,  as 
above  ftated,  four  thoufand  guineas.    The  exaA  fum  pocketed  by 
d||ft  officers,  and  clerks  of  exchequer,  in  1 7  80,  clear  of  all  deduc- 
tfons  was,  feventy-five  thoufand,  eight  hundred  and  fixty-threc 
pounds,  nineteen  ihillings  and  three-pence,  three  fartlitn^  s,  ilerling. 
The  report  fays,  that  in  this  year,  the  ineffeSiv'  officers  of  the  ex- 
chequer, received  forty-five  thoufand,  three  hundred  and  thirty-tniio 
founds.    This  account  is  too  favourable.    We  hav  c  juft  feen,  that 
fifty-fcveti  thoufand,  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  pounds,  four 
fhilling^,  were  divided  amonjf  eight '  perfons.     Of  thefe,  the  only 
man  cnbufinefsisthe  firft  clerk  to  the  auditor,  and  even  he  has  a 
falary  ten  times  as  large  as  any  merchant  would  pay  to  a  mere  ac- 
comptant.     The  exchequer  contains  feveral  other  clerks  with  con- 
fiderable  incomes.    The  four  firft  clerks  to  the  four  tellers,    -ceived 
I  among  them,  in  1780,  five  thoufand,  two  hundred  and      :ty-onc 
(pounds,  and  eight-pence  three  farthings.     From  this  gci    ral  fur- 
Ivey,  it  may  be  fufpeftcd,  that  the  whole  duties  of  the  exchequer 
jmight  be  performed  for  a  tenth  part  of  the  wages  now  paid,  as  even, 
Iby  the  prefent  glimmering,  we  diftinflly  perceive,  that  four-fiftlfe 
!«f  the  above  feventy-five  thoufand  pounds  are  abforbed  in  fine-* 


4l 


<    5«    ) 

cures.  In  time  of  peacei  the  perquifites  would  be  fomewhat  lefs* 
but  the  labour  would  be  lefs  in  proportion.  Fifteen  adive  clerks, 
at  five  hundred  pounds  fterling  each,  could  findi  at  their  own 
chargesi  the  requifite  aifiilantS)  and  actually  perform  the  bufinefs. 
Thi$  fimple  alteration  would)  in  i78o>  have  faved  to  the  public* 
fixty-eight  thoufand,  three  hundred  pounds.  The  largenefs  of  no- 
MMMe/fsuaries  forms  but  the  fag  end  of  the  flory.  After  ftating  va- 
rious aUiiresi  thfi,  report  goes  on  in  thefe  words, 

"  There  fttU  remain  to  be  made  upf  the  accounts  oi  four  treafu- 
**  rers  of  the  navy,  to  the  zmo\xvAoiffty-eight  millions,  nine  hundred 
**  and f(Mrty*fojtr  thou/andifove  hundred  and  eighty-eight  pounds,  and  of 
«  three  pay  mailers  general  of  the  forces^  amounting  to  four  millions^ 
«  fix  hundred  and  fixty-fix  thoufand)  eight  hundred  and  fev^nty- 
«  five  pounds^  exclufive  of  the  treafurer  and  paymafter-general  in 
*f  ofiice;  to  the  firft  of  whom  has  been  iffued,  to  the  30th  of  Sep- 
**  tember*  I'^^Offixtten  millions,  frven  hundred  and eigbty-one  ihott/an J, 
"  iiJDo  hundred  andfeventetn  pounds,  and  to  the  latter*  to  the  end  of 
*<  the  fame  year,  forty-three  millions,  two  hundred  and  fifty- fhree  thoM' 
**  fand,  nine  hundred  and  eleven  pounds,  and  not  one  year's  account  of 
<*  either  is  compkted.  So,  that  of  the  money  iffued  to  the  navy,  fe^ 
**  <venty-five  millions,  feven  hundred  and  tnuentyfive  thoufand,  eight  ^ 
^^  hundred  and  fi've  pounds,  and  of  the  money  iifued  to  the  army,  J 
**  forty  feK)en  millions,  nine  hundred  and  twtnty  thoufand,  feven  hundred 
**  and  eighty-fix  pounds,  together,  one  hundred  and  ituenty-three  mil' 
**  lions,  fix  hundred  and  f'.rty 'fix  thoufand,  five  hundred  and  ninety-on* 
"  pounds,  (not  includiag  ten  millions,  fix  hundred  and  forty-frvem 
**  thoufand,  one  hundred  and  eighty -eight  pounds,  iflued  to  the  navy* 
<<  zXiA  eight  millions,  one  hundred,  and  twenty-one  thoufand  pounds,  to 
**  the  armyi  to  the  end  of  the  Uft  year,)  is  as  yet  unaccounted 
<*  ^oR."  Thefe  variou'  wns  unaccounted  fipr,  amount  in  whQl|^| 
to  one  hundredandforfy-t^vo  millions,  four  hundred  and  fourteen  tboufaiiat, 
ffven.hundred  and feventy  nine  pounds.  This  report  is  dated  the  i  ith 
of  February,  1782-  Lord  Holland,  paymafter-general  of  the  fbr- 
gIb*  refigned  his  oftce  in  176$:.  He  had  received  ntzx  forty-fix 
millions fierling.  His  final  account  was  delivered  into  the  auditor's 
ofiice,  feven  years  after  oit  refignatien.  Compare  this  with  the  pro- 
fecution  inftantly  raifed  againft  a  Scots  fifiierman,  for  the  penalty  of 
a  fait  bond.  The  balance  adlually  in  the  hand  of  his  lordfhip,  when 
he  loft  his  place,  was /oar  hundred  andfixty  thoufa>  i  pounds.  The 
fourth  report  fa\s,  that  upon  the  30th  of  September,  1780,  tnjtn 
hundred  and  fifty-fix  thoufand  pounds  were  ftill  due  to  the  public  by 
his  reprefentattves,  and  on  a  computation  of  fimple  intereft,  at  foot • 
percent,  per  annum,  that  the  lofs  to  the  nation  by  the  money  left  ifr 
Jiis  hands  was,  then,  two  hundred  and  forty-tight  thoufand,  three 
hundred  and  ninety- four  pounds,  thirteen  fhillings,  flerling  ;  as  the  pub* 
Jic  have  no  claim  for  the  intereft  of  money  lodged  with  a  paymafter, 
even  after  he  isdifmiffed.    Thus  far  the  commiflioners  of  public  ac 


1 


(    5*    ) 


counts.    Now  thinlc  of  thfe  profecution  of  a  (hipwrecked  manner 
for  the  duty  of  fix  bulhels  of  bonded  fait.*    It  was  comoionly  faid 
that  Mr.  Richard  Rigby,  a  late  paymafterof  the  forces*  cleared  an- 
nually, feventy  thoufand  pounds,  from  hisoifice)  chiefly  by  b«eping^ 
in  his  hands)  immenfe  fums  of  public  money .+    What  fignffy  the 
minnows  of  Tyburn,  contrafted  with  the  leviathans  of  t&.e;xclr- 
quer,  fporting  in  an  ocean  of  feventeen  millions  fteriing  a  y^Tf 
**  In  all  the  great  monarchies  of  Europe,  thecf  are  ftW  many 
large  trads  of  land  which  belong  to  the  crovm.    The^irre  gene- 
rally foreft;  and  fometimes  for^,  where*  after  travelling  fevc- 
ral  miles,  you  will  fcarce  find  a  finglt  tree  ;  a  mere  f^e  and  lofsi 
of  country  in  refpedl  both  of  produce  and  j^putatidi,    lit  every 
**  great  monarchy  of  Europe,  the  fale  of  the  crown  lands  would 
"  produce  a  very  large  fum  ofmm^. — The  crown  lands  of  Great-> 
"  Britain,  do  net  at  prefent  aSoxa  the  fourth  part  xA  the  rent,  which 
*<  could  probably  be  'drawn  from  them*  if  tney  were  the  property 
"  of  private  perfons."!  This  would  be  abetter  way  to  raife  money, 
than  by  taxing  (hopkeepers  and  pedlars.  It  has  been  computed  thix 
the  crown  lands  of  Britain  could  be  raifed  in  their  value  by  fetting 
them  on  proper  leafes,  or  by  felling  them  off  entirely^  to  a  rent  of 
four  hundred  thoufand  pounds  a  year^  more  than  their  prefent  va- 
lue; but  it  would  be  hazardous  to  warrant  this'vqgae  emmation. 

When  fo  great  a  part  of  the  revenues  and  refonrcesof  a  nation  are 
thus  miferably  call  away,  there  muft  be  fomewhcre  in  the  fame  poli- 
tical body,  a  large  proportion  of  diftrefs.  Accordingly,  Dr.  Daye- 
nant  computes,  that  twelve  hundred  tnoufand  people  in  England  »- 
ceive  alms.j  Dr.  G(4dfmi*b,  in  hts  Hidory  of  Animated  Nature, 
gives^a  calculation,  that  in  London,  two  thoufand  perfons  die  every 
yciLr  of  hunger.  Dr.  Johnfon  fays,  that  in  1759,  the  jails  of  En|^- 
isnd  contained  twenty  thoufand  prifoners  for  debt.||  He  conjec- 
tures, that  ftve  thouiand  of  thefe  debtors  perifhed  annuallv  in  prt- 
fon.  Dr.  Wendcborn  ftates,  as  a  wonted  computation,  that*  Lon- 
don contains  forty  thoufand  common  proftitutes.  It  (hekers  fome 
thoufands  of  highwaymen,  pick<-pockets  and  fwindlers,  of  alt  kin^ 
who  gain  a  regular  fubfiilence  by  the  exercife  of  their  talents.  Theie 
things  are  the  natural  conftquence  of  crown  lands  lying  wafte,  «nd 
of  an  hundred  and  forty-two  millions  fterling  unaccoanted  for.  In 
fuch  a  condition,  we  give  an  hundred  and  eighty  thoufand  poun4a* 
fterling,  at  a  fingle  dalh,  to  pay  the  debts  of  a  thoughtlefs  yoonj^ 
man.    In  Holland  and  Switzerland,  beggars,  and  prilon^rs  for  frebt . 

.  •  Supra,  p.  26. 

+  Thefe  reports  are  inferted  irt  fucceflive  volumet  of  the  New  Annual  Rfgifter.  A 
ftrther  analyfts  of  fome  of  their  cootenti  will  appear  in  the  fecond  MTt  of  this  \'H>rk. 

I  Inquiry  into  the  nature  and  uufes  ot  the  Wealth  of  Nations.  Book  v .  chip.  2. 
part  I. 

^  SketcheioftheHlftoryof  Man.  vol.  1.  p.  479. 

H  Idler,  No.  jf .  The  nithor  adds  in  a  note,  thaT'Cnce  6i^  writingi  he  had 
fpuod  rcafon  to  qucftion  the  calculation. 


i    S3    ) 

are  much  lefs  numerous  than  in  England,  becaufe  the  Dutch  and 
the  Swifsj  are  more  wife,  more  happy*  and)  to  all  rational  purpo- 
fes,  more  free,  than  the  Britilh  nation.  If  half  the  panegyrics  pro- 
nounced by  Britons  upon  themfelves  are  true,  genius  and  virtue  can 
very  feldom  be  found  beyond  the  limits  of  this  blefled  ifland.  As  to 
civil  liberty,  an  Englilh  writer  on  "that  topic,  begins  by  fuppoiing, 
that  it  is  confined  excluHvely  to  the  Britifh  dominions. 

From  thefe  mifcellaneous  remarks,  we  proceed  to  the  corn  law, 
lately  pafled.  No  part  of  our  political  fyftem  has  been  an  objeft  of 
more  clamorous  applaufe  than  the  bounty  granted  by  parliament  on 
the  exportation  of  Britifh  grain.  It  is  faid  that  this  bounty  was  an 
encouragement  eflentially  requiiite  for  the  intereft  of  the  fanners 
becaufe  without  it,  they  wouid  not  venture  to  raife  a  fufficient 
quantity  of  corn  for  home  confumption.  By  giving  a  bounty  on 
exporting  it,  the  farmers  were  always  certain  of  a  market ;  and  it 
was  fuppofed,  that,  but  for  the  profpet^  of  this  refource,  they 
would  very  often  forbear  to  raife  it.  The  profound  policy  of  thit 
expedient  has  been  extolled  by  lord  Kaims,  by  Sir  John  Dalrymple, 
and  by  a  crond  of  other  writers,  whofe  very  names  would  fill  a  (heet 
of  paper.  Others  confider  the  bounty  on  exporting  corn,  as  one  of 
the  mofl  formidable  engines  of  opprefCon,  that  arillocracy  has  ever 
difcharged  on  the  rights  of  mankind.  The  more  that  the  principles 
offititifh  policy  are  examined,  the  more  fhall  we,  like  Rochefter, 
be  convinced  that, 

**  Dutch  prowcfs,  DaniHi  wit,  and  Brtt!/h  policy^ 
*'  GreatNoTHiNG  !  mainly  tend  to  thee. " 

The  empires  of  Japan  and  China  are  much  better  cultivated  than 
the  Britiih  iflands.  They  know  nothing  of  any  fuch  bounty.  An- 
cient Egypt,  and  likewife  Hindoflan,  before  the  Ead-India  comp». 
ny  haddeflroyed  thirty-fix  millions  of  its  inhabitaiua,  were  exam- 
ples of  the  fame  kind.  In  thefe  countries,  and  others  that  might  be 
named,  agriculture  has  ad«'ance«l  to  high  perfedlion  ;  while,  at  the 
fame  time,  the  farmers  of  England  mufl  be  bribed  to  the  plough. 
There  appears  anabfurdity  on  the  very  face  of  this  fuppofition  ;  for 
it  is  as  reafonable  to  fay,  that  the  peopl^  of  Britain  cannor,  like  the 
Japanefe,  walk  without  crutches,  as  that  their  farmers  will  not,  ii'ce 
thofe  of  Japan,  raife  as  much  com  as  they  can,  unlefs  they  are  hired 
to  it  by  the  ftate.  Dr.  Smith,  in  his  Inquiry  into  the  Wealth  of 
Nations,  hath  combated  this  com  bounty.  Poillethwaite  alfo,  in 
his  ilidionary,  has  apafTage  tothe  fame  purpofe  ;  and  as  the  bulk 
of  his  book  may  have  prevented  fome  people  from  reading  it  quite 
through,  we  fhall  extradl  a  few  remarks  on  the  corn  laws. 

•*  There  is  no  complaint  more  common  among  our  merchants, 
**  than  that  foreigners  underwork  us  in  almofl  every  kindof  manu- 
"  fafture;  and  can  we  be  furprized  at  it  ?  when  the  general  tcn- 
<<  dency  of  our  laws,  is  to  make  labour  dear  at  hmr,  and  cheap 
•'  abroad:  when  we  either  forbid  our  people  to  work>  or  oblige 

H 


(    54    ) 

«'  them  to  work  in  the  moft  difadvantageous  manner ;  when  we 
"  lay  all  our  taxes  on  trade,  or*  which  is  ftill  worfe  for  trade,  on 
•*  the  necfjfarips  of  life;  and  when  we  contrive  to  feed  the  labourers^ 
"  manufaflurers,  and  feamen  of  foreign  countries,  with  our  corn  at 
*'  a  cheaper  rate  than  our  otua  people  can  have  it '  To  raife  tlw 
**  price  of  corn  at  home,  in  whatever  manner  it  is  done,  is  the  fame 
«  thing  as  to  lay  a  tax  on  the  confumption  of  it ;  and  to  do  that  in 
"  fuch  a  manner  as  leflTens  the  price  of  it  abroad,  is  to  apply  this 
•*  tax  to  the  benefit  of  foreigners."*  The  bounty  paid  by  law  on 
the  exportation  of  corn  hath  amounted^  in  a  lingle  year,  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  pounds.+ 

Weekly  accounts  of  the  average  prices  of  corn,  in  different  parts 
of  Britain,  are  publifhed  by  authority  of  parliament.  Before  wc 
examine  the  law  fo  lately  pad  on  this  head;  it  is  proper  to 
look  into  thefe  weekly  reports.  We  ihall  thus  learn  upon  what  fort 
of  information  the  legiflature  went  and  how  far  they  were  quali- 
fied, by  a  previous  acquaintance  with  the  Hate  of  the  co'  trade,  to 
make  lavs  concerning  it. 

For  the  county  of  Northumberland,  there  were  tyo  returns  of 
average  prices  of  oat-mcal,  during  the  week  which  ended  on  the 
28th  of  April,  1 792.     A  boll  weighs  an  hundred  and  forty  pounds 
avoirdupois.     At  Hexham,  in  Northumberland,  the  price  of  a  boll 
was  faid  to  be  twenty-eight  (hillings  and  eight-pence.     At  Berwick 
upon  Tweedj  i.i  the  fame  county,  and  ^t  the  didance  of  no  more 
than  fixty  miles,  the  average  price,  at  the  fame  time,  was  only 
eleven Jhillings  and  nine-pence.     If  thefe  accounts  of  prices  were  ac- 
curate, it  woulu  hi^v^  been  an  excellent  trade  to  'ranfport  corn  from 
'Berwick  to  Hexham,  where  it  would  give  more  than   double  the 
fame  price.     An  hundred  pounds  employed  in  this  way,  muft  have 
leturned  a  clear  profit  of  an  hundred  and  forty-four  and  two-fevenths 
fer  cent,    fubtrafting  only  the  expense   of  carriage.     The   me- 
dium is  ftruck  between  thefe  two,  rate*,  and  twenty  (hillings  and 
two-pence  per  boli,  is  returned  as  the  average  price  of  oat-meal, 
for  the  county  of  Northumberland.    Nobody  will  believe,  or  pre- 
tend  to  believe,  that  both  thefe  reports  arc  genuine.     It  is  very 
likely  that  both  are   untrue.     There  is    a  conftant    intercourse 
between    Hexham   and    Berwick,    and  the    feveral 
every    part     of   the    county,    are    invariably  *and 
known.    To  fancy  th6n  fuch  a  difference  in  the  rate 
like  believing  that  the  water  colle<^ed  behind  a  dam  will  keep  at 
itR  former  heieht,  when  the  dam  itfelf  hath  been  removed.     The 
phylical  abfurdity  of  the  one  fuppofition,  is  not  greater  than  the 
moral  abfurdity  of  the  other.    In  the  fame  week,  a  boll  of  oat- 
meal, at  Beriuick,  in  this  very  county  of  Northumberland,  is  ftatod, 
by  the  weekly  report,  at  three  pounds,  two  ihillings  and  (bc- 

*  DiAionary,  vol.  i.  p.  $69. 

■f  Sketchciof  thcHiftory  of  Man,  vol.  i.  p.  49a. 


prices,  in 
univerfally 
of  corn,  IS 


*•• 


rhen  we 
lAcf  on 
3ourers» 
corn  at 
life  the 
he  fame 
that  in 
ply  this 
'  law  on 
to  one 

nt  parts 
lore  we 
3pcr  to 
vhat  fort 
re  quali- 
rade,  to 

;turns  of 
1  on  the 
r  pounds 
of  a  boll 
Berwick 
10  more 
^as  only 
were  ac- 
orn from 
ble   the 
ft  have 
fevenths 
le   mc- 
ngs  and 
at-meal, 
or  pre- 
is  very 
rcourfc 
es,    in 
IverfaUv 
|corn>  IS 
Ikeep  at 
The 
[ban  the 
of  oat- 
s  ftatad, 
Ind  lix- 


i    5S    ) 

pence.  Thus,  b^  carrying  oatmeal  from  the  one  Berwick  to  tl 
other,  a  pro6t  might  have  been  gained  of  more  than  four  hundred 
^r  cent.  The  following  are  the  prices  in  the  reports  of  the  fame  weeky 
ror  fome  other  places.  For  Weftmoreland, fourteen  fhiUingsandfeven- 
•pence;  for  Herefordftiire,  fifty-five  Ihillings  and  two-|«nce;  inLan« 
cafter,  fourteen  (hillings  and  eleven-pence  ;  in  Salop,  fifty  IhilUngt 
and  eleven-pence;  in  Cheftcr,  fifteen  ihillings  and  a  penny;  in 
Bedfordftiire,  fifty  ihillings  and  feven-pcnce.  Thefe  reports,  pub- 
lilhed  by  the  perfons  a^ing  under  parliament^  are  of  equal  au- 
thenticity with  Robinfon  Crufoe.  Yet,  as  we  ihall  immediately 
perceive,  the  fubfiftence  of  millions  of  people  may  depend  on  the 
accuracy  of  theft  identical  weekly  reports.* 

The  new  corn  law  commenced  its  operations,  on  the  1 5th  of 
November,  1791.  In  every  ftage  it  had  received  an  obftinate  op- 
pofition.  On  one  claufe,  a  committee  of  the  houfe  of  commons 
were  equally  divided,  fixty-two  on  each  fide,  and  the  vote  of  the 
chairman  decided  againft  it.  The  a6t,  asnowpublifhed,  fills  eigh- 
ty-four folio  pages  of  confufion  and  repetition.+  fiy  the  aififtanceof 
fome  gentlemen,  I  have  been  enabled  to  form  an  analyfis  of  a  part 
of  ire  -on  rents. 

i  1:  'time  country  of  England  and  Wales  is,  by  this  law,  di- 

videt  .A'clve  diUrids;  and  all  Scotland  into  four.     Tofimplify 

the  difcuffion  as  much  as  poflible,  let  us  confine  ourfelves  at  prefent, 
to  the  firftnf  the  four  diftrids  of  Scotland.  It  comprehends  the 
countiesof  Fife,  Kinrofs,  Clackmannan,  Stirling,  linlithgow,  Edin- 
burgh, Hadington,  Berwick,  Roxburgh,  Selkirk,  and  Peebles. 
Suppofingthat  a  fcarcity  of  provifions  fhould  prevail  in  the  (hire  of 
Edinburgh,  wheat,  for  inftance,  cannot  be  imported  into  it  from 
any  foreign  country,  till  the  average  prices  of  wheat  have  been  a(l 
certained  over  the  eleven  counties  v\  ith  which  it  fi)rms  a  difiHA^  It 
muft  be  proved,  to  the  fatisfaflion  of  the  ftieriff  depute  of  the  counrf  i" 
that  the  average  price  of  wheat  is  fifty  fliillings  p'^r  quarter ;  for,  ifit 
is  imported,  when  the  price  is  lower  than  that  fum,  there  is  a  duty 
off  the  importation,  of  twenty-four  ihillings  and  three-pence,  which 
is  equivalent  to  a  prohibition.  But  though  the  public  (hould  really 
be  Itarving,  and  wheat  extravagantly  dear,  the  real  price  of  it  can 
ofily  be  aicertained  to  the  (heriff  depute,  by  thefe  weekly  returns 
above  ftated,  which  arc  of  as  much  adual  authority  as  the  croaking 
of  a  parrot.     This  is  the  exprefs  injuncfiion  of  the  fiatute. 

Now  it  muft  be  obferved,  that  in  this  diltrift,  fertile  and  barren 
counties  are  injudicioufly  clafled  together.  Of  the  eleven  above- 
mentioned,  only  Fife,  Edinburgh  and  Hadington  produce,  in  ge- 

^  •  Thefe  particular!  of  the  weekly  reports  were  firft  publifhed  by  Dr.  Anderfon, 
'  in  the  Bee,  vol.  ix.  p.  96. 

-f  The  remark  of  Lord  Thurlow,  above  quoird,  was  perfei^ly  jaft.  Many  an 
a£t  of  parliament,  would,  as  a  compofnion,  difgrttct /cbevl-ityt. 


M 


(    56    ) 


« 


Hffral  good  grain.    That  of  th<^  other  eight  counties  is  oftra  at  th« 
rate  of  ten  or  twelve  (hillings  ^^rr  boll,  when  the  grain  of  Fife,  or 
Edinburgh,  fells  at  eighteen  {hillings.    Pl..  the  cale  then,  that  the 
wheat  of  Edinburgh  has  rifen  to  fifty  (hillings,  and  an  importatiotT 
is  wanted  from  a  foreign  country.     "*  No,"  fays  the  (heriffdepiitQ 
of  the  county.    •*  The  grand  broker  of  Weftminfter  cleans,  viz, 
"  the  hetrven-born  miniflert  the  jockey  peers   cf  Newmarket,  with 
f*  proxies  in    Veir  pockets,    and    the    focket-Uft    reprefentatives 
"  of  St.  Mav   a  and  Old  Sarum,  have  ordered  things  better.  They 
"  have  deoated  and  fcolded  among  themfelves,  upon  this  fubjet^ji 
<*  for  three  months.    By  two  majorities  often  or  fifteen  votes  out 
oi eight  hundiedi  they  have  produced  a  permantnt  corn  zik,  an  a^ 
of  which  they  boaft,  as  the  mafter-piece  of  legiilation.    Se-ven  en- 
tire Jiatutes  have  been  repealed  to  make  room  for  it.    This  laco- 
nic law  has  three  or    four  hundred  claufes,   which  Oedipus 
«  could  not  have  explained^  and  S)aionides  could  not  have  reniiem- 
**  bered.    By  one  of  thefe  articles,  you  are  not  to  import  wheat, 
«  though  you  may  be  ftarving  for  want  of  it,  till  the  wheat  ol 
**  Peebles  and  Clackmannan,  has  mna.\ted  from  its  prefent  rate  of 
<•  thirty  (hillings  per  quarter,  up  to  forty.  By  that  time,  your  own 
<'  muft  have  rifen  to  fixt^.    We  fhall  then  ftrike  the  medium,  and 
«  fuffer  you  to  import  it,  for  a  duty  of  half  a  crown  per  quarter^ 
«*  You  need  not  grumble.    The  people  of  Orkney  and  Shetland  are 
«  infinitely  worfe  off.    Among  tnem,  an  ear  of  cum  is  an  obje^  of 
<*  aftonilhment ;  and  it  is  as  much  inferior  in  quality  to  that  of  Pee- 
<*  bles,  as  the  latter  is  inferior  to  yours.     You  are  permitted  to 
«*  import  oats,  when  yourc  rife  to  feventeen  (hillings  z^^"  quarter, 
«  for  a  duty  of  only  one  (hilling,  which  goes  to  make  up  the  half 
«*  guinea //T  day  toWeftminller  bludgeon- men,  and  the  four  thou- 
«  land  guineas  per  annum  to  the  uiher  of  the  exchequer.    But  when 
;<(  the  oats  of  Orkney,  are  nominally  at  feventeen  (hillings,  they 
<*  are  in  reality  dearer  than  yours,  when  at  twenty-five  or  thirty 
«  (hillings.    In  a  word,  you  are  gracioufiy  permitted  to  eat  breaa, 
"  perhaps  a  third   part  cheaper,  than  thofe  beggarly  iflanders. 
'(  Mark  the  fuperior  felicity  of  your  fituation  ;  and  let  your  hearts 
"  glow  with  gratitude  to  the  bed  of  princes."    The  admiring  ci- 
tizeris  hear  their  magiftrate  with  filent  rapture,  ai     blefs  their  (lars 
thai  they  were  born  under  the  6riti(h  conftitution.    N.  B.  His  lord- 
ihip,  notwith((anding  his  conftituticnal  good  nattire,  had  juft  then 
enaured  five  or  fix  of  them  to  be  (hot,  in  honour  of  has  majefty's 
birth-day.* — The  fallacy  of  the  corn  returns  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, and  we  perceive  what  infinite  mifchief  they  may  poffibly 
commit.    The  wheat  in  the  county  of  Edinburgh  may  be  returned 
at  twenty-five  (hillings  per  quarter,  when  the  real  price  is  fifty  %t 
fixty,  and  thus  importation  may  be  prevented. 


In  Cbtfleiuftreet,  George'i-f^uare.    They  had  been  burning  an  efSgy  of  ftraw. 


(    57    ) 


Mftraw; 


Thereii  anothdr  circumftance  in  thk  law  that  deferves  att 
The  wheat,  oatik  arid  barley  of  England  at^e*  In  qaality,  far  fujpe^ 
lior  (.v  ours.  Tnis  is  well  known  to  every  bakerand  brewer.  A| 
'this  momentt Edinburgh  brewers  are buving  Engliflibarley  ateighl 
(hillings  per  boll  higher  than  is  given  for  barley  of  Scqu 'produce 
taking  the  prices  of  the  different  counties  at  a  medium.^  jfhe  for- 
mer is  of  fuperior  value  by  fifty  or  eighty  ptr  cent. 

In  Kent>  Norfolk,  and  the  other  counties  of  England,  fubjeifl  to 
this  Uwt  the  wheat  is  twenty-five  ter  cent,  better  than  that  ot  Scot- 
land. To  make  the  ftatutc  equitable,  therefore,  the  people  of 
North- Britain  ought  to  have  iropocted  wheat,  when  it  was  at  forty 
Ihillings  per  quarter,  while  England  ihould  not  have  been  allowed 
an  importation,  till  Englifh  wheat  had  rifen  to  fifty  (hillings^ 
<*  This  is  what  a  wife  and  virtuous  miniftry  would  have  done  and  ' 
'*  faid.  This,  therefore,  is  what  our  minifter  could  never  think  of 
<*  faying  or  doing.'**  Engliih  grain  of  all  kinds  ought  to  have 
been  rated>  for  tqe  licence  of  importation,  at  twenty  or  twenty-five 
ptrcent,  higher  than  Scot!  grain.  The  plain  meaning  of  the  law  <is 
that  the  people  of  Scotland  nmft  eat  their  bread  twenty-five  percent, 
dearer  than  Engliflimen  eat  theirs.  That  is  the  true  intent  and 
meaning  of  this  corn  law.  livery  dealer  in  grain  will  tell  you^  on^a 
minute's  warning,  that  he  does  not  undeHland  this  ftatute ;  and  that 
he  never  heard  of  any  body,  who  could  fafely  undertake  to  decy- 
pher  thefe  eighty-four  folio  pages,  about  the  terms  upon  which  we 
are  to  be  pernratted  to  buy  our  bread. 

If  a  Swifs,  or  a  North-American,  were  to  itad  this  account*  lie 
would  certainly  conclude  that  Britain  is  inhabited  (mly  by  two 
kinds  of  people,  llavea  and  mad-men.  Dr.  Anderfon  gives  ajuft 
idea  of  this  natute  of  defolation.  *•>'  By  the  late  com  afi,  it  is  in 
<*  the  power  of  any  cuftom-houfe  officer  ftationed  there,  (in  the 
<<  Highlands  and  Hebrides,)  to  ftarve  nearly  half  a  million  of  pce^ ' 
<*  pie  for  want  of  food,  almoft  luhtn  be  plea/es."^  It  would  require 
an  uncommon  degree  of  penetration,  to  determine  whether  the  au- 
thors of  this  aft  arc  fitteft  for  bedlam  or  the  Old  Bailey.  If  the  inoft 
inveterate  enemies  to  human  happinefs,  had  confulted  for  agev  to- 

fsther,  they  could  not  have  devifed  a  more  decifive  method,  than 
y  this  bill,  for  reducing  the  labouring  part  of  the  Scots  nation  to 
the  lad  extremity  of  poverty  and  wretcnednefs. 

With  regard  to  the  probable  coniequences  of  this  corn  law,  here- 
after, we  may  judge  of  the  future  by  the  paft.  "  During  fome 
"  years  previous  to  the  peace  of  Ryfwick,  (which  was  concluded  in 
*<  16(^7,;  the  price  of  corn  in  England  was  doublet  and  in  Scotland  V 
"  quadruple  its  ordinary  rate  ;  and  in  one  of  thefe  years,  it  was  be- 
|»  lieved,  that  in  Scotland  eighty  thtufand  people  dud  of'waut,"X 

*  Burke's  fpeech  on  the  crcditora  of  tht  Nabob  of  Arcot. 

+  Bee,  vol.  1 1.  p.  34. 

X ,  Memoin  tf  C,  Bf itsia  and  irelati,  by  Sir  Juhn  Dalrjrmpk,  p«rt  1 1 1 .  book  v . 


r  58  r 

A  tenth  part  of  the  expewce  of  one  of  the  Britifli  campaigns  in  Flan- 
ders, would  have  averred  from  this  iiland  fo  drdldful  a  calamity. 
In  Aberdeenlhire,  the  confequences  of  this  famine  may  ftill  tie  tra-, 
ced.  Whole  i^milies  expired  together^  and  the  boundaries  ofde« 
ferted  facms^were  forgotten.  To  afcertain  them  is,  at  this  day» 
fometimesan  objed  of  difpute.  The  land  bears  the  marks  of  the 
plough ;  but,  having  been  fo  long  neglc(f^ed,  has  relapfed  into  its 
original  ftate  ofbarrennefs;  and  is  now  covered  witbheath,  among 
which  may  bedifcovered  the  remains  of  the  dwelling  honfes  of  the 
exterminated  inhabitants.  Thefe  extraordinary  circumftances  have 
not  been  obferved  by  any  formet  writer.  They  were  related  to  me 
by  Dr.  Anderfon,  who  has  an  eftate  in  the  county  of 'Aberdeen. 
We  may  be  perfuaded,  that  in  the  other  three  years^dfthis  famine, 
at  leaft  twenty  thoufand  additional  perfons  perifhed  of  hunger ;  fo 
that  this  reckoning  of  extirpation  amounts  altogether  to  one  hun- 
dred thoufand  lives. 

Much  noife  has  been  made  about  the  maflhcre  of  Glenco,  and 
the  tragedy  of  Daricn.  This  famine  was  a  difafter  infinitely  more 
terrible  than  thefe,  yet  it  has  been  recorded  with  far  lefs  clamorous 
lamentation.  By  the  greater  part  o$  the  hiftorians  of  that  period, 
no  notice  whatever  has  been  beitowed  upon  it.  Yet,  if  William  the 
Third,  his  minifters,  and  his  |Mirliaments,  had  been  penetrable  to 
human  feelings,  they  would  have  put  an  end  to  the  war,  for  the 
fake  of  putting  an  end  to  the  famine.  They  might  hav?  done  fo  on 
the  mod  honourable  ierms.  Had  William  accepted  the  offers  of  Louis, 
**  the  war  of  the  firft  grandalliance  would  hivc  ended /bur j/ears/oener 
«*  than  if  <//</,  and  the  war  of  the  ftcoud  grand  alliance  might  have 
**  been  prrn/iftted."*  If  any  circumttancc  can  add  to  the  folly  and 
the  euilt  of  William,  it  is  this.  He  was  almofl  conflantly  beaten  by 
J^uis,  in  the  field,  and  by  the  peace  itfelf,  none  of  the  parties  gain- 
*ijfl  one  penny  of  money,  or  almoft  one  foot  of  territory.  Yet  Sir 
John  Dalrymple,  that  candid  and  intelligent  writer,  has  compofcd 
a  panegyric  on  the  wifdom  and  virtues  of  this  monarch.  A  thoufand 
other  Britifh  hiftorians  have  performed  the  fame  talk ;  and  the 
voice  of  the  public  haih  conftantly  fwelled  the  general  chorus  of  ad- 
miration. This  is  a  kind  of  infatuation  and  ftupidity,  that  feems 
peculiar  to  the  Britifh  nation.  The  French  never  celebrate  the  me- 
mory of  Louis  the  eleventh  ;  nor  did  the  Roman  hiftorians  afFeft  to 
regret  the  fuffocationo'  Tiberius  Caefar. 
It  is  remarkable,  that  though  the  Scots  are  conflantly  talking  of 
,  their  conftitution,  and  their  liberties,  the  whole  fabric  is  entirely 
Toundcd  on  one  of  the  grqlfeft  and  mofl  impudent  afls  of  ufurpa- 
tion  ever  known.  I  refer  to  the  celebrated  t/wVy/y.  The  whole  nf.- 
gociation,  bears  on  its  very  face  the  flamp  of  iniquity.  The  utmcw 
care  was  employed  to  conceal  its  infant  progrefs  from  the  Scottifh 

*  Memoirs  of  Great- Britain  and  Ireland,    part  1 1 1 .  book  x,  mi 


{    59    ) 

nation,  and  the  bargain  was  at  laft  patched  up  with  the  utmoft  pre^ 
cipitation  and  fecrecy  in  ths  Scotti(h  parliament.  The  public  were 
inflamed  into  a  traniport  of  fury,  but  as  nothing  lefs  than  a  revolt 
could  diflblveit,  the  Scots  wifely  chofe  to  (hun  the  horrors  of  a  ci- 
vil war.  It  is  plain,  however,  that  the  treaty,  was  in  itfelf,  alto- 
gether illegal.  It  exactly  refembles  the  fale  of  an  eftate,  without 
the  confent  or  knowledge  of  its  owner.  The  Scotch  members  of 
parliamect  had  been  authorized  "by  their  conftituents  to  aifemble  for 
the  commoii  bufmefs  of  the  nation ;  inftead  of  which,  they  clan- 
deflineiy  transferred  its  inde{)endence  to  the  beft  bidder.  Edmund 
Burke,  in  the  fpeech  lately  quoted*  has  a  paflage  that  exadlly  de- 
6nes  it.  <*  A  corrupt,  private:  intereft,"  fays  he,  "  is  fet  u;'>  in  di- 
"  K&.  oppofition  to  the  necelTities  of  the  nation.  A  divcrfion  it 
**  made  of  millions  of  the  public  money  from  the  public  treafury  to 
«  a  private  p^fie."  A  detail  of  the  obliquities  of  this  Union» 
woum  extend  the  prefent  chapter  beyond  its  proper  limits.  A  full 
account  of  it  wffl  |»e  given  m  the  courfe  of  this  work,  when  a 
regular  hiftoricai  narrative  commences,  beginning  with  the  year 
1 6  88,  and  ending  at  the  p?efent  fplendid  aera.  Without  regard  to 
perfons,  to  parties,  or  to  public  opinions,  I  (hall  there,  as  every 
where  elfe,  hold  up  truth  to  the  world,  as  (he  rifes  on  my  refearches* 
in  the  naked  (implicity  of  her  charms. 

After  fuch  a  review,  curirifity  nay  lead  us  to  enquire,  if  the 
Scots  government  had  been  hone(lly>  cqiuluAed,  for  the  laft  hun- 
dred  years,  what,  by  rhis  time,  ScMand  Hft^ might  have  been  f  Li 
order  to  take  a  proper  view  of  this  fubje£^,  we  muft  begin  by  re- 
colle^ing,  that  fince  the  revolution,  Britain  hath  ipcnc  forty-two 
years  in  adual  war  with  other  nations  of  Europe,  over  and  above 
the  campaigns  in  America,  and  the  quarrels  of  the  Eaft-India  com- 
pany. Frequent  armaments  have  befides  taken  place,  which* 
though  they  did  not  end  in  blood(hed>  were  ftill  very  expendve  ic^^ 
the  public,  and  very  di(lre(fing  to  commerce.  Britain  has  been  ei- 
ther fighting,  or  preparing  herfelf  to  fight,  for  fixtv-five  or  feventy 
years  out  of  one  hundred.  The  minds  of  the  people  have  been  kept 
in  a  ftate  of  inceffant  fermentation.  Their  property  has  been  the  per- 
petual fport  of  ruinous  taxes.  We  never  have  enjoyed  peace  for  fo 
long  a  time  together,  as  was  requifite  for  learning  its  full  advanta- 

§es.  Britain  refembles  a  common  bully,  who  ipends  five  or  fijc 
ays  of  the  week  on  a  boxing  ftaget  and  the  red  of  it,  in  an  excife 
court  or  a  correAion  houfe.  In  mite  of  all  this  folly,  the  wealth 
of  the  country  has  been  continually  increafing.  **  From  the  refto- 
"  ration  to  the  revolution,  the  foreign  trade  of  England  had  dmt- 
**  bled'm  its  amount ;  from  the  prace  of  Ryfwick  to  the  demife  of 
,  "  king  William,  it  had  nearly  nfen  in  the  fame  proportion.  During 
"«  the  firft  thirty  years  of  the  current  century,  it  had  again  iouhh^t* 
(although  three  wars,  fifteen  campaigns  by  land  or  fea*  a  Scottiih 
rebellioni  and  fix  naval  armaments  for  the  fialtic^  had  intervened. 


i    60   ) 

»«  ¥tpm  the  yean  7  50  to  1774,  notwithftanding  the  interruptions 
^•*  oi oHHght yef^rs  infervenient  ouar,'*  (viz.  from  175610  1763,)  "  it 
*»  appears  to  have  gained  more  than  one-fourtht  whether  we  deter- 
*«  mine  from  the  table  of  tonnage  or  the  value  of  exports."*  We 
can  hardly  conceive  how  very  greatly  firitiih  commerce  muft  have 
augmented  by  this  time,  if  it  had  not  been  retarded  by  thefe  abfurd 

J|uarrel9.  As  to  the  taxes,  it  has  been  already  obferved,f  thatevefy 
um  of  money  raifed  from  the  public  cofts  them  ten  per  cenu  The 
tradefmen  who  pays  the  tax  muft,  upon  a  medium,  clear  thb  profit 
by  his  capital,  and  if  he  can  (hove  the  tax  upon  his  cuftomers,  by 
raifing  the  price  of  his  commodities,  it  comes  exafUy  to  the  fame 
point  at  laft,  as  thtir  adlive  capitals  are  diminiihed  in  proportion. 
The  greater  part  of  the  money  fpent  in  war  is  employed  in  the  pur- 
chafe  of provifions  and  military  ftores,  which  are  confumed  in  tfie 
courfe  of  the  quarrel,  and  large  fums  are  al^vays  tranfmitted  in  hard 
ca(h  out  of  this  ifland.  Thus  a  capital  is  transferred  from  the  moft 
nfeful  and  beneficent,  to  the  moft  favage  piirpofes.  Inftead  of 
building  farm-houfes,  draining  marfhes,  and  inclofing  corn-fields, 
inftead  of  feeding  the  hungry  and  cl(xithing  the  naked,  inftead  of 
employing  the  idle,  and  animating  the  bufy,  of  fupporting  the  in- 
duftry,  and  embelliftiing  the  elegance  of  life)  it  is  deftined  to  bribe 
the  brutality  of  a  prefs-gang,  or  Hfo  pamper  the  rapacity  of  a  cono- 
traAor,  to  haften  the  difcharee  of  bombs,  the  explofion  of  mines, 
jind the  ftormins;  of  batterfeiloaded  with  grape  ihot.  Transferen- 
ces of  this  kind  are  infinitely  numerous,  and  the  conclafion  feems 
evident.  War  is  a  two-edged  fword  plunged  through  the  heart  of 
fociety,  and  cutting  both  ways,  equally  to  be  avoidi^  for  the  mife- 
ry  which  it  produces,  and  the  happinefs  which  it  prevents.]: 

In  fcfen  years,  from  September  i774>  to  September  1780,  inclu- 
fivey  the  number  of  men  raifed  for  the  Britifh  army,  was    76,885 

-        -        -     176,008 


ditto  for  the  navy 


Total        25z,893§ 


The  American  war  lafted  for  more  than  two  years  after  this  efU- 
mate  was  made,  fo  that  the  whole  number  of  men  raifed  muft  have 
been  at  leaft  three  hundred  thoufand.  Dr.  Franklin,  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Vaughan,  fays,  that  feven  hundred  Britifh  privateers,  whofe 

*  An  Eftimateofthe  Compararive  Strenf;th  af  Britain,  by  Geoiige  Chalmers, 
Eff*  p.  46. 

f  Vide  Introduction. 

X  Mr.  Burke,  feme  years  ago  afTerted,  that  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds )»fr<i»- 
ffwflrwere  charged  for  the  fupport  of  the  gatrifon  of  Gibraltar.  Eighty  thoufand  pounds 
were  charged  for  oats  fumiflied  to  the  tangle  legion  of  colonel  Tarleton.  Twelve 
huadred  ^ouiaod  pound*  wera  charged  for  the  provifions  oaly,  of  forty  thoufand 
men,  and  fifty^fcven  thoufand  for  ptefents  to  the  Indians,  for  which  they  had  only 
mai&cred  twenty-fhrc  women  and  children. 

S  New  Annual R«|ifter fori 78 1,  PaiNCirAi.  Occurrxnces.    p.  ^<i' 


.4: 


(    6i    ) 


s.. 


ci#ws  he  calls  gangt  ^pf  nhbers,  wen  commiinoned  during  U 
wari'  At  an  allowance  of  feventy-two  men  to  each  of  thtm,  thp 
whdie  .imount  was  fifty  thoufandf  four  hundred.  A  wodfman  cftn» 
"  upon  an  average,  earn  abour  ten  IhilUngs  a  week)  which  it)  X^ondon) 
,  3  '  is  at  prefent  half  the  common  wages  of  a  joiirneyni|in  taylot. 
Reducer-  ♦•o  twenty-five  pou^s /^-r  <7»«aw,  and  his  lift!  maybe 
eftimated  at  twelve  years  purchafe,  or  three  hundred  pounds  in  va*- 
lue  to  the  public.  At  this  rate  the  daily  labour  of  three?  hi^idrcd 
and  fifty  thpofand  men,  extends  to  eight  millions,  feven  hundred 
and  fifty  fhoufand  pounds /<!T  atmum.    If  they  had  all  perifhed  in 

^  the  war,  the  value  of  their  Kves  mould  have  amounted,  at  three':, 
hundred  pounds  per  head,  to  one  hundred  and  five  millions  ftetHng.  ^ 
We  are  farther  to  obferve,  that  previous  ro  September,  17^4,  la 

^  very  numerous  body  of  men  were  engaged  in  ihe  Britifh  army  and" 
navy,  and  thofe  perfuns  are  no^  included  in  the  preceding  ti>r«e 
hundred  and  fifty  thoufand.  When  a  corps  is  raifed,  and  fent  oi^iaf 
the  Biittih  iflandtvto  adiuai  fervice,  it  feldom  happens  that  moi 
thanafixth,  a  tenth*  orn  twentieth  part  of  the  men,  ever  conic  _ 
home  again,  and  even  of  thpfe  who  do  {o,  one  half  are  frequeniAj? 
invalids  and  penfioners,  or  beggars.  Dr.  Johnfon,  in  his  Tcpr 
through  Scotland,  relates,  that  ta  the  war  of  1756,  an  Higliland  re* 
giment,  confifting  of  twelve  hundned  men,  was  fent  to  North  Ame- 
rica, and  that  of  thefe,  oiilyy^i;/'»/y;^"feturned.  Dr.  Franklin,  in 
a  fhort  effay  on  war,  obferves,  that  privateer  men,  "  arc  rarely  fit 
m^  «  for  any  fobcr  bufinefs  after  a  peace,  andlCerve  only  to  increafc 
««  the  number  of  highwaymen  and  houfe-brerikcrs."  From  thefe 
particulars,  we  may  infer,  that  at  leaft  three  lUindfcd  tlioufand 
.  perfons  wete  loft  to  the  Britifli  nation,  whofe  lives,  in  fee-fimple, 
were  worth  ninety  millions  llerling.  Of  this  acconnt,a  fifUN  pftt  may 
fafely  be  ftated  as  the  (hare  of  Scotland  ;  fo  that  the  feven  liii»di 
campaigns,  coft  an  expence  of  vScots  blood,  te  the  value  of  eightel 
millions  ftcrling.  The  war  'might  have  been  avoided  with  the 
greateft  facility.  In  the  hillorical  regifter  of  Edinburgh,  fvjr  the 
month  of  December,  1791,  there  is  a  curious  calculurion,  founded 
on  the  authority  of  Sir  John  Sinclair'ls  ftatiftical  reports.  By  this,  it 
becomes  very  probable,  that  Scotland  contains  ninety-fix  thoufand 
females  more  than  male^.  It  is  known,  that  the  number  of  boys 
bom  exceeds  that  of  girls ;  and  hrnce  this  deficiency  rauft  be  afcrib- 
edto  war  and  cmigfation.  It  has  been  Hated  above,  that  more  than 
fix  hundred  thouland  pounds  of  taxes  raifed  from  the  Scots,  arc 
fairly  carried  into  the  Britifh  exchequer,  and  our  abfentees  at  Lon- 
don, who  fpend  the  rent  of  their  cftates  in  that  receptacle  of  profli- 
gacy, may  be  eftimated  at  an  additional  three  hundred  thoufand 
pounds /«r  0//v///».  Tlie  total  fum  raifed  in  Scotland,  during  the 
yctt  1788,  by  government*  was  about  one  rt-iillion  and  ninety 
thoufand  pounds.  This  includes  a  conjet'tural  article  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  thoufand  pounds  as  the  duty  paid  upon  goods  manu- 

I 


J 


(  ^t  ) , 


ired  in  England}  tax«d  therC)  and  fent  ^own  to  Scotland  fix 
>n(binpltion.    Of  the  one  million  and  ninety  thou(knd  pounds  fter- 
Bnl;)  aoout  fix  hundred  and  thirty  thoufand  pounds  went  intfaat 
»year  iato  the'£ngli(h  exchequer.    Tbe  remaining  fom  hundred  and   ^ 
'^xCf  thou^nd  pounds,  if  managed  ^yith  qeconomyf  woidd  havfly|  *9^ 
been  much  more  than  fuflkiant  for  all  the  purpofes  of  civil  goveri^ 
ment,  and  the  fix  hundred  thoafand  guineas^  might  have  heen  far- 
ed to  the  puUic.    If  the  union  had  never  exifted,  the  three  hun- 
\*;  dred  thoufand  Y)\all^ii per  annum  for  abfentees,  virould  Ukfwife  have 
remained  in  Scotland.     If  we  had  enjoyed  a  wife,  vlrtuott|)  and  in- 
dependent government,  nine  hundied  thoufand  pounds  a  year  would 
have  been  retained  in  this  poor,  defpifed,  and  enflavql  country* 
[^  which  at  prefent  goes  out  of  it.    Shut  up  in  a  reinotiQ  "peninfula* 
where  nobody  comes  to  moleft  us^  we,  Scotfmen,  ha?e  no  natural 
bufinefs  with  Falkknd's  iflands^  xm  Nootka  Sound,  with  the  wilds 
of  Canada,  or  the/uburbs  ofOcz^cKir.  'The  farmers  of  Fife  and 
Lanerk,  hate  little  concern  with  |^  fqug^bles  b^een  Tipoo  Saib, 
and  a  corporation  of  Englifh  meiilifii^ti*  %  ^pl^erds  in  Galloway 
fpend  their  winter  evenings  without  t^K,  and  weavers  of  Glafgow 

fo  fupperlefs  to  bed*  for  the  ftiKe'pF  a  Dutch  frontier,  and  the 
alance  of  lifurpation  betweefi  {0erman  tyrants.  Forfiich  wife 
ends,  we  pay  fix  handflBd;^Oiij|ind  guineas  a  year.  We  are  not 
fu&ned  to  fifli  cod  upt>n  o/vx^f^n  coafts,*  but  we  fight  eight  or  ten 
yeii-s  at  a  ft  retch  for  leaffMlo^catch  it  on  the  banks  of  Newfound- 
land. Sinpethe  revola|fOu»  Scotland  has  furniiKe^  the  Biitifh  army 
'  and  navy  witj^  thifi>^%  four  hundred  thoufand  recruits,  while*  at 
the  fame  Half)  J^glind  fufiered  eighty  thouland  of  our  anceftort 
to  die  in  a  figle  year,  of  hunger. 
The^  i^rticulars  may  afitft  us  in  comprehending  the  deftruAion 
sdviifed  to  North-Britain  by  the  prefent  fyftem  m  adminiftration, 
^tzerland  is  reported,  in  round  numbers,  to  contain  twelve  thou- 
fand fquare  mile^  and  two  millions  of  people.  The  foil  is  barren, 
and  its  furface  encumbered  with  treraenduous  mountains,  yet  every 
acre  of  land  is  improved.  The  beauty  of  the  country,  and  the  fe- 
licity of  its  inhabititnts,  fill  vHth  rapture  the  pages  of  travellers, 
Nbrth>Brirain,  and  its  weftem  iflands,  ex(:lufive  of  Orkney  aad 
Shetland,  form  an  area  of  at  leaft  thirty  thoufand  fquare  miles. 
The  money  and  the  blood  expended  in  fooliih  wars,  would  bave 
converted  the  whole  country,  like  theSwifs  cantons,  into  gardens, 
corn-fields  and  paftures.  In  propoition  tp  the  Helvetia |H>pulation, 
we  (hould  have  amounted  to  five  mi!]ians,  befides  another  millicm 
fapported  by  the  fiihcries,  and  by  the  manufactures  to  which  they 
give  fife.  Inftead  dtfibc  mtUions,  the  number  of  people  in  Scotland 
does  not  exceed  about  fixteen  hundred  thoufand. 

This  mournful'chapter  is  now  approaching  to  a  conclufion,    I 
ihall  only  juft  remind  the  reader  of  (he  otafl^cie  at  CuUoden,  where 

.      f  Snpra,  p.  4*.    ^ 


■,t  - 


4 


(    «l    ) 

Hanoverian  ferocity  exhibited  its  utmoft  horror.    Aboat  two  tl 
£uid  of  the  miferable  rebels  were  cut  to  pieces.   Thd  wounded  wet 
imtchered  in  cold  blood.    1'he  particulars  muft  be  deferred  till  (onm 
future  opportunity.    By  a  verv  ftran|;e  aA  of  parliament,  theduktfi| 
of  Cumberland  received  for  his  fervices,  a  peniion  of  tyi^cnty-five 
thoufand  pounds  fterling,  added  to  fifteen  thoufand  pounds*  which. 
ht  had  before.*    The  ruffians,  who  performed  fuch  worki  at  fix- 
pence  a  day,  were  ftill  more  execrablethan  thofe  whofet  them  on. 
The  toa4*eating  Scots  exulted  in  this  tragical  conftimmation  of 
viftory,  "The  wretched  newfpapers  of  that  aera*  were  crouded  with  J 
verfes  m  praife  of  his  loyal  highnefs.   The  circumftances  of  the  batw 
tie  of  CnUoden  itfelf)  and  the  mean  and  barbarous  exultation  which 
it  produc<M,  were  alike  difgraceful  to  the  name  of  Britain.    Cum- 
berland continues  to  be  remembered  in  Scotland,  by  the  fignlficant 
appellation  oiThe  ^oodj  Duke, 

*  This  jwniion  fiuiisd  to  fwell  **  the  loaded  couto%t  hbaf  ^  corrupt  Inflw- 
ence."  Vide  Mr.  BiXAitlt  fyeech,  a*  to  reforming  the  civil  lift,  on  the  nth  of 
February,  1780.  • 


■**>4K>5 


C  H  A  ]^T  E  R    III. 


Blachjlene — His  idea  of  the  Englijh  Conftiiutiok^-mRtvolution  in  1688—. 
siption  of  its  Parliaments — Englijh  Diffenterd^^Lanu-fuit  ivith  tbt 


AorrMi 


Corporation  of  London — Lord  Mamfitld — His^ngular  txprejpon  as  t« 
the  French  Hugunots — Birmingham — Scots  aS  of  relief -^ur,  Tatham, 

THE  annals  of  Scotland  prefent  us  with  a  feries  of  frightful  1  ^^ 
facres.  For  any  purpofe  of  nnoral  utility  which  it  can  an* 
fwer,  the  whole  narrative  had  better  be  forgotten.  During  the  laft 
forty  years,  one  half  of  our  hiftorians  have  exhaufted  their  talents 
to  revile  the  memory  ef  George  Buchanan,  by  far  the  ^reateft  lite- 
rary  charafter  that  North-Britain  ever  produced,  to  decide  whether 
Maay  Stuart  wrote  fome  very  ftupid  letters  in  French  and  Latin,  and 
whether  Henry  Damley  was  a  cuckold  i  We  ihall  certainly  find 
fuperior  entertainment  in  the  hiftory  of  England,  which,  as  her  poets 
and  hiftorians  tell  us,  hath  always  been  the  native  feat  of  liberty. 
Here  is  a  fpecimen. 

"  During  the  reigns  of  Charles  and  James  the  Second,  above 
**  fixty  thoufand  Non-conformifts  fuffered,  of  whom  fnje  thoufand 
*'  DIED  IN  PRISON.  On  a  moderate  computation,  tbeie  perfons 
**  were  pillaged  o£ fourteen  millions  of  property.  Such  was  the  tole- 
**  rating,  liberal,  candid  fpirit  of  the  church  of  England."*    This 

*  FlfHRNir,  on  the  French  ConlUtutioB,  p.  437.  and  hiiauthoritiet. 


'*ii 


(   H   ) 


it 

it 
i' 
tc 
ft 


•%{mate  cannot  be  intended  to  include  Scotland)  for  it  is  likely  duii 
here  alone,  Epifcopacy  faciiJiced  iixty  thoufand  viftims.  Of  aU 
forts  of  follies,  the  records  of  the  church  form  the  moft  outrageoui 
burlefque  on  the  human  underftanding.  As  to  Charles  the  Second* 
it  is  full  time  that  we  Ihould  be  fpared  from  the  hereditary  infult  of 
a  holiday  for  his  baneful  reftoration. 

At  fi^e  percent,  of  compound  intereft,  a  fum  doubles  in  fourteotlr 
years  and  one  hundred  and  five  days,  or  fcven  times  in  a  «cntttTy. 
Put  the  cafe,  that  thefe  fourteen  millions  of  property  were  taken 
from  the  Englilh  diflenters  at  once,  in  1 67  8,  aid  that  they  would 
have  doubled  eight  times  between  that  period,  and  the  pref^t  year, 
1 792.  This  is  taking  the  lofs  on  the  mod:  moderate  td|ns.  By 
iuch  an  account,  the  fe^,  are  at  this  day  poorer,  in  confi^uence  of 
Aefe  peffecutions,  than  they  otherwile  would  have  been,  by  the 
fum  of  three  thoufand,  five  hundred  and  eighty-four  millions  fter- 
ling. 

*<  Our  religious  liberties  were  fully  ellabliftied  l^bc  reformation: 
but  the  recovery  ofour  civil  and  politiqii  lH^^es  was  a  work  of 
longer  time ;  they  not  being  thoroqgyy  and  completely  regain- 
ed till  after  the  reftoration  hfhing  <ib0^s,  nor  fully  and  explicitly 
acknowledged  and  defined,  tiU'  die  aera  of  the  happy  revolution. 
Of  a  conftitution  fo  wifely  contrived,  fo  ftrongly  ratfed,  and  fo 
**  highly  finifhed,  it  is  hard  to  fpeak  with  that  praife,  which  is 
**  jultly  and  feverely  its  due.  The  tlwrough  and  attentive  contempla- 
**  tion  of  it-will  furnifh  its  beft  panegyric.  It  hath  been  the  en- 
**  deavour  of  thefe  commentaries,  however  the  execution  may  have 
«*  fucceeded,  to  cx*mine  itsfolid  foundations,  to  mark  out  its  ex- 
*'  tenfiveplafi,  to  explain  the  ufe^^and  diftribution  of  its  parts,  and 
*»  from  this  harmonious  concurrence  of  thofe  feveral  parts,  to  de- 
«*  monilrate  the  elegant  proportion  of  the  whole.  We  have  taken 
i^  occafion  to  admire  at  every  turn,  the  noble  nionunlents  of  an- 
"  tient  fimplicity,  and  the  more  curious  refinements  (faIt*bonds, 
•*  and  fo  forth,)  of  modern  art.  Nor  have  its  faults  been  conceal- 
*«  ed  from  view  ;  for  faults  it  hast  (wonderful !)  left  we  (hould  be 
<*  tempted  to  think  it  of  more  than  human  structure."*  The 
Federal  conftitution  of  North-America  lodes,  at  leaft  upon  paper, 
as  well  as  that  of  Britain.  James  Madifon,  Efq.  of  Virginia,  is  re- 
lated td  have  been  its  chief  author.  The  citizens  of  the  United 
states,  or  at  leaft  a  great  majority  of  their  number,  regard  this  con- 
ftitution  with  attachment  and  admiration  •  but  they  never  i^>eak  of 
Mr.  Madifon  as  a  di'vinity.  They  do  not  imagine,  that  fix  or  eight 
hundred  years  of  botching  were,  as  in  England,  requifite,  before 
a  political  cub  could  be  licked  into  any  t^rable  fhape,  for  two 
or  three  years  at  the  utmolt,  were  employed  in  framing  the  prefent 
American  conftitution.    In  the  pafTage  now  quoted,  Sir  William 


*  Commcntariet  on  the  Laws  of  England,  by  Sir  William  Blackfton^. 
IV.  chap,  zxxiii.  ' 


Book 


(    6j    ) 


nt 


Blackftoiie  has  only  adopted  the  ordinary  cant  Ojf  the  Engl 
tion.    If  any  member  of  Congrefs  were  to  fpeak  in  M^h  a  Urain 
to  the  legiflative  fyllem  of  that  country,  the  whole  afl^mbly  would 
conilder him  as  pofittvely  crazed.  As  tu  the**  happy  revd|,ution,"  th^ 
reader  may  judge  fiom  what  follows.    *f  Two  hundred^!tboufand 
**  pounds  a  year  hefimuedupon  the  parliament t  have  alread3^.ji6o3i|j 
10  drawn  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  fubjedls,  moke  money,  than 
^f  nil  our  kings  Juice  the  couquejiy  have  bad  from  the  nation.  The  kingf 
<*  (William,)  has  about  fix  fcore  members,  whom  I  can  reckoiy* 
**  who  ate  in  places,  and  are  thereby  fo  entirely  at  hit  devotioOK; 
<*  that  though  they  have  mortal  feuds,  when  out  0/ the  hou/e,  wadL* 
**  thoughthey  are  violently  of  oppofite  parties,  in  their  notimu 
«  goverrmient*  yet  they  vote  as  lumpingly  as  the  lawonjleeoeu  Tl 
<*  houfe  is  fo  officered  by  thofe  who  have  places  and  penfions,  tha|^ 
f*  the  king  eun  bafflle  any  bill,  qua(h  all  grievances,  and  ftifle  all 
"  accompts,***  ,  As  to  the  lawn  fleeves,  the  twCMty-fix  fees  "of  ^ 
England,  are  eflimated  at  ninety-two  thoufand  five  hundred  pount^s^ 
and  the  twenty-two  Iri&fees»  at  fevemy>four  thoufand  poundsi  which 
is  in  whole,  one  hundred  and  fixty-fix  thoufand,  f  ye  hundted 
pounds.    On  a  medium,'%K;h  of  thefe  parfons  thus  receive  iiiree 
thoufand,  four  hundred  and  ^fixty-eight  pounds,  fifteen  Ihillin^ 
fterling /^r  <7»»«»f.  ^  ,  *^ 

■s^  The  following  law-fuit  deferves  particttlar  notice,  becar  *.  *\tk. 
proceedings  which  give  rife  to  it,  were  not  the  a^ons  of;  ^vc\;r\i 
individual,  bat  compofed  a  deliberate  cbnfpiiiracy  by  one  great  bodjl'ti 
of  pe(^le  in  England,  againft  the  property  c^aiftotber.  At  the  fame 
time   It  ferves  to  exhibit  « the  harmonious  c*e^feurieiice,  the  ele- 
**  gant  proportion,  and  the  more  curious  rej^ment§  oi  modem' 


»» 


<*  art. 

In  the  year  1 748,  the  corporation  of  London  rcfolved  to^^uUd  ki 
manfion-houfe.    The  fcheme  required  money,  and  to  jprocatiyy| 
they  paffed  a  by-law.     They  pretended  to  be  anxious  for  gettkig 
Jit  and  able  perfons  to  ferve  the  office  of  iheriff  to  the  corporation,  ^ 
and  they  impofed  a  fine  of  four  hundred  pounds  and  twenty  marks 
upon  every  perfon,  who,  being  nominated  by  .a^  lord-m^tyor,  de- 
clined to  fland  the  eledion  in  the  common-hall.  W.A.  hundied poundi 
additional,  were  laid  upon  every  perfon,  who  being  ele^d  by  tfa^ 
common-hall,  refufed  to  ferve  that  office,     'flie  mies  thus  raiibd, 
were  appropriated  for  building  the  manfic  n-houfe.    In  coofequence 
of  this  law,  fevcral  difTenters  were  nominated,  and  elected  to  the 
office  of  iheriff.    fiy  the  corporation  adl,  made  in  the  the  thirteenth,. 
year  of  Charles  the  Second,  no  perfon  could  be  eledied  as  iheiilS 
unlefs  he  had  taken  the  facrament,  in  the  church  of  Eaglaml  with- 
in a  year,  preceding  the  time  of  his  eledlion.    If  he  accepted  the  of- 
fice, without  this  qualification,  be  was  exprefsly  panifliable  by 
the  flatute.    If  a  diiknter  therefore  had>  iu  virtue  of  fuch  an  elec- 


Burgh's  Political  Difquiiitions,  vol.  i.  p.  405. 


(    66    ) 


1,  a^cd  as  fliiariff,  he  would  have  been  feverely  chaftifed.  Hence 
thegentlemenof  that  perfuafion  refufed  the  pffice,  and  paid  their 
fines,  to  the'amoutof  more  than  fifteen  ihbufand  pounds  fterling^ 
One  of  the  pcrfons  thus  eleded  wa?  blind  ;  another  was  bed-ridden. 
Thefe  were  ihcfit  and  able  perfons,  whom  the  corporation  of  Lon- 
don chofe  as  (heriffs.     The  praftice  went  on  for  feveral  years. 

This  corporation  of  London  had  been  an  aflcmblage  of  the  moft 
arrant  (harpers,  or  fuch  a  projeft  for  building  a  manfion-houfe  ne- 
ver could  have  entered  into  their  minds.  It  is  impoflible,  that  any 
mortal,  poflefling  a  fpark  of  common  honefty,  Ihould  have  been  con- 
jrerned  in  it.  At  latt,  Allen  Evans,  JEfq.  a  diflenter,  refufed  to  pay 
this  Hne.  An  action  was  brought  againft  him  iu  the  (heriff  court 
of  the  corporation  of  London,  and  in  September,  1757,  judge- 
ment was  given  againft  him.  He  appealed  tu  the  court  of  huftings, 
another  city  court,  and  in  1759,  the  judgement  was  affirmed  a  fe- 
jcond  time.  At  lall  it  came  before  the  houfe  of  lords,  where,  on 
the  4th  of  February,  1767,  it  was  finally  fet  afide.  We  are  not 
informed  whether  Mr.  Evans  paid  his  own  ctpences.  If  he  did  fo, 
it  might  have  been  chea^x^r  for  him  to  pM^  the  fine.  On  this  occa- 
fion,Tord  Mansfield  pronounced  a  fpeeclil;  *'  The  defendant"  faid 
his  lordihip,  '*  was  by  law  incapabtei  at  the  time  of  his  pretended 
<'  election :  and  it  is  my  firm  perfuafion,  that  he  was  chofen 
**  becaufe  he  nvas  incapable,  IS  he  had  been  capable,  he  had  not 
«  been  chofen ;  for  they  did  nbt  want  him  to  ferve  the  office.  They 
«  chofe  him,  becaufe,  without  a  breach  of  the  law,  and  an  ufurpa- 
*«  tion  on  the  crown,  he  could  not  ferve  the  office.  They  chofe 
"  him,  that  he  miffht  fall  under  the  penalty  of  their  by-law,  made 
^<  to/erve  a  partkuTar  purpofe. — By  fuch  a  by-law,  the  corporation 
<•  have  i|  in  their  power,  to  make  every  diflenter  pay  a  fine  of  fix 
«*  ^uMbed  pounds,  or  anyfum  they  pleafe ;  for  it  amounts  to  that."* 
^r .  In  this  fpcech,  lord  Mansfield  exprefles  th^  utmoft  deteftation 
againft  every  kind  of  religious  perfecution,  as  againft  natural  reli- 
gion, revealed  religion,  and  found  policy.  He  declares,  that  he 
never  read,  without  rapture,  the  liberal  fentimcnts  of  De  Thou,  on 
this  fubje^.  His  lordfhip  then  adds  thefe  remarkable  words.  *'  I 
*«  am  forry,  that  of  late,  his  countrymen  (the  French,)  have  begun 
"  to  open  their  eyes,  fee  their  error,  and  adopt  bit  feni'ments,  I 
«*  (hould  not  have  broite  my  heart,  (I  hope  I  may  fay  fo,  without 
«•  breach  of  chri/iian  charity,)  if  France  had  continued  tocherilhthe 
«*  Jefuits,  and  to  perfeeutt  the  Hugutiots."  When  Nero  fet  fire  to 
Rome,  or  when  Caligula  wiihcd  that  the  Roman  people  had  only 
one  neck,  they  might  have  been  partly  e xcufed,  as  cither  drunk  or 
mad.  Neither  of  thefe  humble  apologies  can  be  advanced  for  lord 
l^ansfield.  When  the  Tartan  once  conquered  China,  it  was  pro- 
pofed  in  a  council  of  war,  to  extirpate  the  inhabitants,  aiKl  turn 

•  Letters  to  the  honourable  Mr.  juftice  BUckftone,  by  Philip  Furncaux,  D.  D. 
Appendix,  No.  a. 


# 


(.^7    ) 


n- 


*»  I 


.  -V 


It' 


wde 


D.a 


the  country  into  pafture.  As  his  lordfhip  was  not  a  Tartar,  W)i| 
had  any  profpeft  of  driving  a  herd  of  cattle  through  France,  he 
ftill  remains  without  an  excufe  or  motive,  as  to  the  tafe  im  poimii 
that  could  lead  him  to  fuch  a  horrid  fentiment.  We  (hall  quit  this 
fobjedl  with  a  Ihort  citation  from  The  Sincere  Huron,  "  He  talked,*', 
fays  Voltaire,  "  of  the  revocation  of  the  cdift  of  Nantes  with  iV 
•*  much  energy,  he  deplored  in  fo  pathetic  a  manner,  the  fate  of 
"  fifty  thoufand  fugitive  families,  and  of  fifty  thoufand  others* 
"  converted  by  dragoons^  that  the  ingenuous  Hercules  could  not  re- 
«<  frain  from  ftiedding  tears." 

.  It  is  foreign  to  the  plan  of  this  work,  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  all 
the  outrages  which  have  been  committed  upon  Engliih  diflentern 
but  there  »  an  aiTertion  in  a  letter  publifhed  by  Grorge  Rous,  Efq* 
that  cannot  be  pafled  over.  Speaking  of  the  late  /iots  at  Birming*,! 
ham,  he  has  thefe  words.  "  Government  love  an  occaiional  riot» 
"  which,  with  the  afliftance  of  the  military,  is  eafily  fuppreffed  ;  in 
<*  the  mean  timet  it  alarms  the  votaries  of  a  fordid  luxury  ;  makes 
*<  them  crouch  for  proteAion ;  and  tearlies  them  patiently  to  endure 
<*  evils  impofed  by  the  hand  of  power.  Accordmgly,  for  more 
«  than  a  month,  preceding  the  14th  of  July,  all  the  daily  prints  in 
**  the  intereft  of  the  treajuryy  lahoundto  excite  a  tumult."  He  adds> 
«  to  let  loofe  the  rigours  of  juftice,  might  have  been  a  cruel  fa* 
««  crifice  of  their  friends  "  This  gtotleman  is  a  member  of  the 
houfe  of  commons,  and  of  refped^able  rhtra^er  and  abilities.  He 
thus exprefsl)  charges  the  Britilh  miniftry  with  having  excited  iiu 
cendiaries  to  burn  the  houfes  of  peaceable  citizens.  The  practice  (tf 
Mr.  Pitt,  correfponds  with  the  tneory  of  lord  Nfjuufidd. 

An  aft  of  religious  toleration  and  relief,  is  to  take  place  in  Scot- 
land, within  fix  months  after  the  id  of  July,  1792.  It  contains 
the  following  claufe.  "  If  any  perfonfhall  be  prefent  twice  in  fhe^ 
♦*  fame  year,  at  divine  fervice,  in  any  Epifcopal  chapel  or  meetiiMur 
*'  houfe  in  Scotland  whereof  the  pallor  or  minifter  ihall  not  pray  in 
**  exprefs  words  for  his  majefty,  by  name,  for  hii  majefty's  heht 
"  or  fucceflbrs,  and  for  all  the  royal  family,  in  the  manner  herein 
**  before  direfted,  every  perfon  fo  prefent,  Ihall,  on  lawful  con- 
*«  vidtion  thereof,  for  the  firft  offence,  forfeit  the  fum  of  five 
**  pounds,  flerling  monei'."  One  half  of  the  fine  goes  to  the  iiw 
former,  and  if  the  culprit  cannot  pay,  he  is  to  fuflfer  fix  months  of 
imprifonment.  For  any  future  offence,  conviflion  produces  two  years 
of  imprifonment.  In  virtue  of  this  aA,  it  would  be  very  eafy  for  a 
fwindling  parfon  to  fleece  his  flock.  He  has  only  to  get  his  cha- 
pel as  completely  filled  as  poflible,  to  place  two  or  three  informers 
in  every  corner  of  it,  and  then,  in  his  prayers,  to  forbear  all  men- 
tion  of  his  moft  facred  majefiv.  If  four  hundred  prrfons  were  pre- 
fent, this  mieht  be  converted  into  a  job  of  two  thnufand  pounds 
fterlinff  ;  «s  the  ftatute  inakrs  no  excef^tinns  in  favour  of  thoic  who 
ihouldinterrupt  the  parfun  in  the  miUlt  of  the  fdrvice.    The  prin- 


(    6B    ) 

ic^lil  a^or^  the  farce,  might  by  connivance  abfcond  ;  bat  there 

frk  ftill  one  difficulty  unprovided  for.   The  informers  themfelves  muft 

HvelMcti  prefent  at  the  perpetration  of  this  crime,  and  therefore 

;.4dl«y  are  equally  guilty  with  the  reft  of  the  audience.    It  ought  to 

jftc  ftipulated,  that  every  informer  is,  in  the  firll  place,  to  receive  his 

Pf»wn  pardon.    The  reft  of  the  ad  is  of  a  piece. 

'I'he  inftitution  of  Sunday-fchools,  was  at  firft  highly  popular  in 
England.  The  eftabliflied  clergy  have  fince  become  jealouc-  of  the 
plan,  and  Mr.  Rous,  himfelf  a  churchman,  gives,  in  his  letter, 
fome  authentic  and  Ihameful  examples  of  this  faft.  Yhc  church  of 
£ngland,  in  fpite  of  many  excellent  charafters  among  ica  divines, 
appears  to  be  fomewhat  lame  in  its  political  principles.  Its  cham-.^ 
|Mon,  Dr.  Tatham,  one  of  the  a^ing  incendiaries  at  Birmingham, 
publiflied  a  letter  fome  time  ago,  which  has  thefe  words.  "  It 
<«  would  be  a  terrible  thing,  indeed,  if  all  the  people  of  England 
•«  (hould  learn  to  read  and  write.'* 


CHAPTER    IV. 


..  \ 


Ci'vil  Liji — Accumulation  of  Fifteen  Millions — Georpe  the  Fir/I — His 
liberal  ideas  of  Government — George  the  Second — His  hofpitality  at  the 
Burial  of  his  eldeft  Son, 

•*  TT  is  impoftible  to  maintain  that  dignity,  wliic!'    •  king  of 
X  "  Great- Britain  ought  jto  maintain,  with  an  incOiti     in  any 
"  decree /<^j  than  what  is  now  eflablilhed  by  parliament."*     Sir 
^  John  Sincl^r  ^^  given  a  long  account  of  the  civil  lift.     By  this,  it   * 
KtifptSiTs,  that  between  two  and  three  hundred  thoufand  pounds  an-  • 
lltially  arc  paid  out  of  it,  for  efficient  officers  of  ftatc,  ambaftadors 
and  judges,  for  example.  In  1788,  the  royal  family,  with  its  fiddlers, 
chaplains,  wet  nurfes,  lords  of  the  bed-chamber,  rockers,  groom 
oftncftole,  and  nymphs  of  the  clofe-ftool,  a  ftation  worth  forty- 
eight  pounds  a  year,  cof^    all  together,  about  fix  hundred  and  fixty  ^ 
thoufand  pounds  ftcrHng.     Mr.  Burgh  fpeaks  in  the  following  terms 
of  the  civil  lift.  j 

<•  There  we  find  places  piled  on  plares,  to  the  height  of  the  tow- 
•*  er  of  Babel.  There  wc  find  a  matter  of  the  houfehold,  trcafurer 
**  of  the  houfehold,  comptroller  of  the  houfehold,  cofferer  of  the 
«*  houfehold,  deputy-cofferer  of  the  houfehold,  clerks  ofthehoufe- 
"  hold,  clerks  comptrollers  of  the  houfehold,  clerks  comptrollers 
«*  deputv-clerks  of  the  houfehold,  office-keepers,  chamber-keepers, 
"  neceflary-houfe-keepers,  purveyors  of  bread,  purveyors  of  winc> 
**  purveyors  of  fifti,  puivcyors  of  butter  and  eggs,  purveyors  of 


fff 
« 
u 
u 
(I 
(( 

(C 

fl 
« 

M 
(( 
%t 

a 
a 

t€ 

it 
it 
tt 
u 
tt 
•( 
«< 
tt 
tt 
tt 
tt 
tt 
c* 
tt 


*  Blackftone's  Cemncntariei,  book  i .  chap.  8. 


!ja^-'' 


.-   i 


of 
any 

Sir        * 
,  it  \i 

an-       t 


ow- 
urcr 
the 
lufe- 
Uers 
xrsi 
/inci 
s  of 


(    64    } 

««- confe6lionarjr>  iJeUverers  of  greens,  coffVc-women,  ^ 
*•  fpicerjr-mcn's  affiiUnt-cIeikS)  ewry-men,  ewry-men's 
<f  clerks,  kitchen-clerks  comptroliers,  kitchen-clerk-compt 
•<  iirft  clerks,  kitchen-clerk-comptroller's  junior  clerks,  yeonwjl 
<*  the  mouth,  under  yeomen  of  the  mouth,  grooms,  groonos  cf 
"  drcni  paftry-ycomen,  harbingers,  harbingers  yeomen,  keepers  dl 
*«  ice-houfes,  cart-takers,  cart-takers  grooms,  bell- ringers,  cock 
••  tnd  cryer,  table-deckers,  water-engine  turners,  ciftcrn-cleancrs, 
"  keeper  of  fire-buckets,  and  a  thoufand  or  two  more  of  the  fame 
"  kincli  which  if  I  were  to  fct  down,  I  know  not  who  would  take 
«<  the  trouble  of  reading  them  over.  Will  any  man  fay,  and  kectf 
*<  his  coentenance,  that  one,  in  one  hundred  of  thefe  hangers-on  it 
<«  of  any  real  ufc  ?  Cannot  our  king  have  a  poached  egg  for  hk 
"  fupper,  ufAefs  he  keeps  a  purveyor  of  eggs,  and  his  clerks,  and  Kift 
««  clerk's  deputy-clerks,  at  an  expence  of  five  hundred  pound*  a 
<f  year,  while  the  nation  is  finking  in  a  hottomlefs  ocean  of  debt  i 
«  Again,  who  arc  they,  the  yeomen  of  the  mouth,  and  who  are  the 
«*  der-yeomcn  of  the  mouth  ?  What  is  their  bufincfs  ?  What  is  it 
"  to  yeoman  a  king's  nrroath  ?  What  is  the  nccefllty  for  a  cofferer, 
«<  where  there  is  a  treafurer  f  And,  where  there  is  a  cofferer,  what 
•*  occafion  for  a  deputy-cofferer  ?  Why  a  neceflfary-houfe  keeper  ? 
«  Cannot  a  king  have  a  water-clofet,  and  keep  the  hy  of  it  in  hit 
*t  otun  pxket  ?  And  my  little  cock  and  c^er,  what  can  be  his  po(f  i 
*t  Does  he  come  under  the  king's  ehimber-window,  and  call  the 
«  hour,  mimicking  the  crowing  of  the  cock  ?  This  might  be  of 
«(  ufc  before  clockg  and  watches,  efpecially  repeaters,  were  invefto 
«(  ted ;  bat  feenm  as  fuperfluous  now,  as  the  deliverer  of  ereenif 
(•  the  coffee-women,  ipicery  men's  afliftant-cleVfcs,  tfee  kitchen- 
«  comptroller's  firft  clerks  and  junior  ckrki,  the  grdl|||i»  children, 
«*  the  harbinger's  yeomen,  <^c,  I>oes  the  maimaining  fuch  a  i 
«  ber  of  idlers  fuit  the  prefent  ftate  of  our  finances  ?  When 
»*  frugality  be  neceffarv,  if  not  now  ?  Queen  Anne  gave  aii  hun- 
<»  drcd  thoufand  pounds  a  year  to  the  public  fervice.*  We  pav 
'(  debts  on  the  civil  lift  of  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds  in  one  arti- 
•«  cle,  ixj'iCh:?:*  nfiing  honu  there  comes  to  be  a  deficiency. *'\ 

The  followine  converfations  on  the  fame  fubjeA,  between  the 
late  princefs  of  Wales  and  Mr.  Dodington,  cannot  fail  to  excite  the 
attention  and  furprife  of  every  reader.  "She,"  the  princefs, 
"  faid,  that  notwithftanding  what  I  had  meutioncd  of  the  king's 
*•  kindnefs  to  the  children,  and  civility  to  her,  thje  things  did  not 
"  impofe  upon  her;  that  there  were  other  things  which  (he  could  uot 
<*  get  over,  ibe  viflied  the  king  was  Icfs  civfl,  and  that  he  put  left 
*•  of  their  money  into  his  own  pocket ;  that  he  got  full  tlmQr  thou- 

K 

*  The  reader  may  be  acquainted  with  the  progrefs  and  termination  of  thii  aA  of 
.  iiiv»l  muDificence,  ^  confulting  Anecdotes  of  tiMt  Earl  of  Chaihim,  ^arto  cditioo, 
vol.  it.  p.  50 

i  Political  Difquifitioni,  vol.  tl.  p.  128.  ' 


(    70    \ 


t* 
ft 
« 


j^nd  pounds  per  annum,  by  the  poor  prince's  death.    If  he  would 
Jiave  given  them  the    dutchy  of  Cornwall  to  have  paid  his 
debts,  it  would  have  been  fomething.    Should  refentments  be 
carried  beyond  the  grave  T  Should  the  innocent  fufFer  ?  Was  it 
becoming  fo  great  a  king  ta  leave  his /on' s  debts  unpaid  ?  and  fuch 
inconfiderable  debts  ^    I  aikcd  her  what  ihe  thought  they  might 
amount  to  ?  She  ani'wered,  fhe  had  endeavoured  to  know,  as  ncaif 
as  a  perfon  could  properly  enquire,  who,  j)ot  having  it  in  her 
power,  could  not  pretend  to  pay  them.     She  thought,  that  to 
the  tradefmen  and  fervants,  they  did  not  amount  to  ninety  thou- 
**  fand  pounds;  that  there  was  fome  money  owing  to  the  carl  of 
«  Scarborough,  and  that  there  was,  abroad,  a  debt  of  abcMit  feven- 
♦*  ty  thoufahd  pounds.    That  this  hurt  her  exceedingly,  though 
«<  (he  did  not  fliew  it.    I  faid  that  it  was  impoffible  to  new-ma£e 
**  people ;  the  king  could  not  now  be  altered."— 

<*  We  talked  of  the  king's  accumulation  of  treafure,  which 'flic 
«  reckoned  at  four  millions.  I  told  her,  that  what  was  become  of  it, 
"  how  employed,  where,  and  what  was  left,  I  did  not  pretend  to 
"  guefs ;  but  that  I  computed  the  accumulation  to  be  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  millions.    That  thefc  thi^s,  within  a  moderate  de- 
gree, perhaps  lefs  than  a  fourth  part,  could  be  proved  beyond  all 
pijjibility  of  a  denial;  and,  when  the  cafe  ftiould  cxift,  would  be 
publilhed  in  controverfial  pamphlets."* 
In  1 7  5^1  Mr.  Pitt  had  a  conference  with  the  duke  of  Newcaftle, 
which  has  been  recorded  by  Mr.   Dodington.    A  fliort  fpecimen 
may  ferve  to  (hew  how  the  Britifh  nation  has  been  bubbled  by  go- 
vernment.    *<  The  duke  mumbled  that  the  Saxon  and  Bavarian  fub- 
fidies  '/ere  offered  and  prejfed,  but  there  was  nothing  done  in 
them  ;  that  the  Heflian  was  perfe<5tcd,  but  the  Ruffian  v/as  not 
**  concluded.    Whether  the  duke  meant  unfipfned,  or  unratified, 
«*'We  cannot  tell,  but  we  underftand  if  is  figneJ.    When  his  grace 
*'  dwelt  fo  much  upon  the  king's  honour^  Mr,  Pitt  afked  him, 
"  what,  if  out  of  the  F I F  T  E  E  N  millions  iMhich  the  king  hadja'^:  d, 
"  he  (hould  give  his  kinfman  of  Hefle  one  hundred  thoufand 
*'  pounds,  and  the  czarina  one  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  pounds, 
*<  to  be  off  from  thefe  bad  bargains,  and  not  fuffer  the  fuegeftions, 
"  fo  dangerous  to  his  own  quiet,  and  the  fafety  of  his  family,  to  be 
•<  thrown  out,  which  would,  and  muft  be,  infilled  upon  in  a  debate 
«*  of  this  nature  ?  Where  would  be  the  harm  of  it  ?  The  duke  had 
*«  nothing  to  fay,  but  defircd  ihcy  might  talk  it  over  again  with 
**  the  chancellor;  Mi.   Pitt  replied,   he  was  at  their  command, 
**  x\\o\i^  nothing  (otdd alitr his opimon,*'\ 

The  reader  will  hero  obftTvc,  that  thirty-fcven  years  have  elapf- 
cd  fincc  Georg;the  Second  had  favcd  fiftken  millions  from 


-"  Doiltngtnii's  Memoirs^  p,  167  and  290. 

•re  ii^ii!  utip.;iJ. 

t.  IbiU.  p.  37j. 


Thefe  dcbu  of  the  prince  ot  Wa!c« 


(    V    ) 


the  civil  lift.  It  has  been  faid  above,  that  a  furo,  at  five  pr  tent,  ol^  J 
compound  intereft,  doubles  itfelf  in  fourteen  years  and  an  h|ii 
and  five  days.  Now,  at  this  rate,  thefe  fifteen  millions  uoulij^  ir 
thirty- feven  years,  have  multiplied  to  more  than  ninety-one  mil- 
lions and  an  half.  It  is  indeed  true,  as  Mr.  Dodirgton  fays,  tha^,' 
we  cannot  tcil  fwhat  has  become  ofity  or  hoiu  it  has  h^en  employ cd^  but^l 
welknow  that  no  part  of  it  has  been  applied  to  the  fervicc  of  the 
nition.  Wehave  fince  paid  feveral  large  arrears  in.'o  which  the  ci- 
vil lift  had  fallen,  and  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds  pcraf/Kum,  have 
been  added  to  the  royal  falary.  At  the  fame  time,  the  nation  has 
been  b<^rrowing  money  to  pay  that  falary,  the  expences  of  Gibraltar 
and  Cafiada,  for  the  fupport  of  the  war  fyftem,  and  other  matters, 
nominally  at  three  or  four  per  cent,  but  in  reality,  fometiracs  at  five 
and  an  hdMper  cent.  To  thefe  fifteen  millions,  we  may  fafely  add  a 
million  for  the  expences  of  coUedingit  from  the  people,  and  let  us 
again  revert  to  the  principle,  that  a  fum  taken  from  their  purfes, 
brings  a  real  lofs  of  ten  percent.  At  this  rate  of  compound  intereft, 
the  fixteen  millions  wouM  double  themfelves  once  in  feven  years  and 
fifty-three  days,  or  five  limes  in  thirty-feven  years  and  nine  months. 
By  this  royal  manoeuvre,  the  public  hath  loft  five  hundred  and 
twelve  millions  fterling.  Thefe  fixteen  millions,  if  left  in  our  pock- 
ets, would  have  made  the  national  debt  as  light  as  a  feather,  and 
all  our  taxes,  a  trifling  burthen.  Great  part  of  the  money,  if  not  the 
whole,  was  fent  to  Hanover,  and  thus  utterly  loft  to  Britain. 

1  he  princefs  dowager  of  Wales,  mother  to  George  the  Third, 
once  obferved  .o  Mr.  Dodington,  that  "She  wiihed  Hanover 
"  in  the  fea,  as  the  caufe  of  all  our  misfortunei^''  Since  the  year 
1714,  Britain  has  been  dragged  after  that  clcdoratc,  like  a  man 
of  war  in  the  tow  of  a  bum-boat.  Hence  the  royal  accumulation  of 
fifteen  millions  fterling;  and  •*  hence  it  follows  of  neeeftlty,  t^t 
"  vaft  numbers  of  our  people  are  compelled  to  feek  their  livelihoW*'"^ 
by  begijing,  robbing,  ftealing,  cheating,  pimping,  flatteriug,  fu- 
borning,  foifwearing,  forging,  gaming,  lying,  fawnir l- ,  hector- 
ing, voting,  fcribbling  I^^r-gazine.  poifoninij,  whorit -,  canting, 
«'  libelling,  frc  -thinking, :    '  the  Hkc  occupations."* 

The  fum  above  ftated,  might  have  been  employed  in  r'.^aring,  and 
planting  the  wafte  lands  of  firitain  and  Ireland.  In  Ham^.ftiirc,  there 

•N 

•  Gulliver"* Travels,  part  iv. 

To  this  enumeratior  may  be  zAAtA  franking,  in  '763,  t! .  iirouhtof  franked 
le'/tisrs  was,  one  hundaJ.  and  feventy  tlioutand,  W\t\  'lurd.ci  pound;;  Btacic- 
lloie's  Commentaries,  book  I.  chap.  8  \i  that  ti  m  <\it  twr  hoiifc;  of  parli«« 
ment contained,  perhaps, feviu  hundred  imd  fifty  members,  lo-  FngliO!  peers  vi-ere  Jefs 
numerous  then,  than  tney  are  now.  At  a  medium,  ihis  fum  v^lM  equal  lu  an  annuity  ot 
two  hundred  and  twenty-fevcn  pounds,  twclvt(hiilingjftcriin(,ltircacl>  nfHin;^-..  Some 
commoners  paid  the  wagesof  their  footmen '•ith  rrni.k-,  it  lialf  a'Ttivvn  //r-  urcn. 
About  fixteen  years  ago,  Sir  Robert  Hemes,  r,  baiike-  in  Lndoi  'ai  t:  \  .1  fe..t  an 
member  for  the  five  Scots  boroughs,  included  .n  thr  'Hrtri''^  of  '^v  .t.'-  '  H" ,  b- 
je£t  waifaid  tobe,  the  faving  of  poftage  on  all  letters  directed    ..  his  oflic        Thi» 


<( 

(t 


It 


I  t^a^  of  land,  about  ten  or  twelve  miles  fqOare,  all  in  one  body, 
iti^tOiies  in  a  ftare  of  nature.    Salilbury  plains  are  covered  with 
:r-parks.    in  an  extent  of  about  fixteen  miles  long,  and  6ve 
E'^imilcs  broad,  we  meet  with  five  lodges,  where  the  deer  throng  in 

|^'^ouds,  and  are  regu!?rly  fed.*    Other  examples  of  thcianv?  i:ht  '\ 
ihight  be  given,  even  in  Englandt  though  that  is  by  far  t/uv  oi ij!^  , ' 

{)opiilous  ai.d  heft  cultivated  part  of  the  three  kingdoms.  Ms*^ 
arge  tradts  are  ftill  fufFered  to  lie  in  commont,  that  is,  in  natural  gfASiS), 
'wiiich  would  produce  ten  times  their  pretent  value  ol  <-r(^i  iipto. 
perly  ploughed  and  manured.  As  to  Scotland  and  Ireland,  ftesi- 
cighths  of  the  foil  is  at  this  moment  m  a  ftatf  of  nature  not  the 
fmatif.^ft  attempt  having  ever  been  made  for  iit;  jmprovcapaK.  Six 
miles  bolovv  Dumfries,  and  about  a  mile  from  a  feat  of^ferd  Scoi- 
roon,'  s,  there  is  an  extent  of  four  or  fivi  miles  fijuaire,  fooncctmes 
covered  by  the  tide,  which  I, as  broke  in  upon  it  withlu  tht  la't  ifift/ 
y?ars.  It  is  furrouriU-'d  on  two  fides  by  dryland^  and  could  be  eaft'. 
\y  recovered  from  'olwsy  Fath.  The  fleech  i&aow  carried  oif  iii 
large  quantities  for  rr.-mur'  -  At  Kho.  fame  tt^e*  we  are  fighting  for 
illands  in  th^-  We(Ulnc!;>s.  Hkc  the  dng  in  the  fable,  who  dropped 
the  fubjiarii.',  while  fodiping  iit  ikit  jS^<no.  Some  pa^ple  have 
dreairied  th^r  Britain  is  over-llocked  with  people.  In  fa^,  this 
ifland  couliSwIth  Chlr.efe  management,  readily  fupport  quadruple 
its  prefent  number  of  inhabitants,  The  fame  remark,  applies  to  ak 
mort  every  other  part  of  Europe,  Holland  and  Switzerland  excepted. 
While  fo  many  millions  of  Britifh  acres  lye  uncultivated,  we  pay  fix 
ot'fevcn  hundred  tlionfand  pounds  a  year  to  the  family  of  a  fingle 
rnan.  /u  a  round  calculation,  Ic:  us  gueft,  that  fifty  pounds  iierling, 
arc  ii'fficicot  for  converting  an  acre  of  barren  bogs  or  moors, 
into  ..e»dws  or  corn-fields.  Ihc  fum  of  fix  hundred  and  fixty 
tlioufiiid  pfjunds,  paid  in  1785,  to  the  immediate  ufe  of  the  crown, 
Jt^tight  thus  have  fertilized  an  hundred  and  twelve  thoufand  acres, 

'I'hcmoft  tiiifcrable  part  of  the  ftory  ftill  remains  to  be  told;  but 
the  particulars  muft  be  deferred  to  fome  future  time.  The  civil  lift 
ie  a  gulf  yawning  10  abfoib  the  whole  property  of  the  Britifli  em- 
was  computed  at  feven  hundred  pounds  fterling  a  year.  Mr,  Pitt  has  made  fome  ve- 
ry pioei'ffgulationson  this  head.     He  was  warmly  oppofed  by  Edmund  Burke. 

In  the  Hebri'.les,  four  places  excepted,  no  poll-otiice  is  eftablKhed.  "  A  letter 
•♦  from  Skyc  to  Lewis,  the  direft  diftance  but  ;*  tew  leagues,  if  fentby  poft,  muft 
*•  t'uvfl  above  iwelvt  hundrtd  miles^\itiQXt\x.iAn  reach  the  place  of  itsdt^'tiation." 
Dr.  ARfierfon'j  Introdudion,  p.  28.  One  is  at  alofs  to  conceive,  on  "■'•:■  +  ..^count 
the  Scots,  during  the  A nr^Tican  war,  alTumed,  in  general,  fucharan  .aitipa- 

thy  toihecjufeofthcl  nited  States.     Their  s'^al  for  tht.   Englifli  gr  lU  wat 

violen:  >  yr  t  us  juftly  might  v-^    :  feel  attachment  to  the  ium'i  '-Ho        .■%  him  for 
the  market. 

*  Thcfe  p4rtij:u!ar8  are  in.  ,iiEaon  the  authority  of  a  refpe<f-.>!iS-g?;  uemanjwell 
acquainted  with  that  part  of  England.  Itwasftated,  fomelime^,  n  the  public 
f  mils,  that  Ke  duke  of  Bf;.<ford,  for  the  purpofe  of  huotii^,  pur»;^</''  . ..  '^^ '  bnHl|bt 
over  from  Fijiite,  fome  bundndi  ^/ive/oMM.. 


(    7J   > 

silt.    We  look  back  without  fatisfa^Hoiii  and  forward  w{ 
Aope. 

.  Lord  Chefterficld  informs  uS)  that 
ingly  hurt  even,  even  by  the  weak  oppofition  which  he  met  with  mS 
^^  jptrliamenti  on  account  of  fubfidies ;  and  could  not  help  complaio- 
^g  to  hb  moft  intimate  friends^  that  he  had  come  over  to  EngW 
Ki^^oc  a  beMng  king.  His  Vexation  was*  that  he  could  not  commar 
isoDcy  wimout  the  farce  of  a&ing  it ;  for  in  his  reign,  as  at  pre 
ieiit,  the  debates  of  parliament  were  but  a  farce.  Such  were  the ' 
libc^rdi  lentiments  of  the  firft  fovereign  of  the  Proteftant  fucce£Baii» 

This  kin^^  believed  that  his  fon,  George  the  Second,  was  aikj 
oBpriftf  ,  of  illicit  k>ve.  His  jealoufy  was  total  to  the  life  of  count 
Konii^piiarckf  a  SwedHh  nobleman.  On  the  fame  account  his  wii^,tht 
heirefs  to  the  dutchy  of  Zell,  died  in  prifon,  after  a  confinement  of 
thirty-iixyca^  George  the  Firft  ihouidhave  confidered  this  accident^ 
if  real}  as  a  rvwiptw/Mw  rather  than  a  carruptim  of  the  royal  blood.  Foe 
tradition  repor^  that  j&/r  tfovff  mother*  thejprincefs  Sophia,  botet 
a  refemblance  to  £|btabethj  n^aiden  queen  of  England.  Like  that 
illuftrious  and  admired  foverci2;n,Sopni9,  by  the  incredible  number 
of  her  male  favourites,  attefted  the'^rdour  of  her  fenfibility,  and 
the  robuftnefsof  her  conftitution. 

The  quarrel  between  George  the  Second,  andhisfon  Frederick, 
prince  of  Wales,  father  to  George  the  Third,  arofe  from  a  different 
caufe.  It  lafted  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  will  be  explained 
in  my  fuccceding  hiftory  of  the  reign  ofGeorge  the  Second.  It  was 
carried  to  a  dreadful  height.  When  old  qneen  Caroline  was  dying* 
Frederick  requefted  permiflion  to  fee  her.  Hii  mother  refufed  ac» 
ccfs  to  her  fon,  and  expired  without  an  intehriew.  Fifteen  yean 
after,  Frederick  himfelf  died,  and  Dodington  has  (^iigcd  us  witli  j 
fome  anecdotes  of  his  burial,  fiy  thefe  we  learn,  Jiat  ^leorge  cnidff*^ 
ed  a  dinner  to  the  courtiers  who  attended  it.  ^The  folrot 
part  of  the  account  which  Dodington  gives  of  this  affair. 

' '  At  feven  o'clock,  I  went,  according  to  the  order,  to  the 
"  houfe  of  lords.    l*be  many  flights  that  the  poor  r^^ipiins  of  a 
"  much  loved  friend  and   mafter  had  met  wifbi 
•*  now  preparing  the  laft  trouble  he  could  give  Jb, 
«  me  fo  low,  that  for  the  firft  hour,  I  was  incapaM^\ 
"  obfervation,  "^ 

**  Th  .^  pKOc r.Tion  began,  and  (except  the  lords  appointed  to  heflicl  * 
**  th*  xli,  aiul  atijad  the  chief  mourner,  and  thofe  of  his  own  do» 
«  T*c.(ics,)  when  the  attendants  were  called  in  their  ranks,  t^ere 
**  was  not  one  Engliih  lord,  not  one  bifhop,  and  only  one  MftifHf^ 
**  two  fons  of  dukes,  one  baron's  fon,  and  two  privy  counftflbti," 
of  whom  the  author  was  onct  **  out  of  theie  gMat  bodies,  ro  make 
**  a  fhow  Dt  duty  to  a  prince  fo  great  in  rank  and  expectation. 
**  White  we  were  in  the  houfe  of  lords,  strained  very  hard,  as  it  hai^ 
«  done  aUtbefeafon;  when  we  came  mto  Palace- Yard,  the  way  to 


(7^   ) 

thc^  Abbey  was  lined  with  foldiers,  but  the  managers  had  not  af- 
forded thefmalleft  covering  over  our  heads;  but  by  good  for-  ^ 
tune,  while  we  were  from  under  cover,  it  held  up.     We  went 
*»^  in  at  the  fouth-eaft  door,  and  turned  (hort  into  Henry  the  Se- 
«*  vcRth^s  chapel.     The  fervice  was  performed  without  either  an-  ^  ' 
*'  them  or  organ.     So  ended  this  fad  day — There  was  not  the  at-  " 
tention  to  order  the  green-cloth  to  provide  them  a  bit  of  bread^,  ^ 
and  thefe  gentlemen,  (the  bed-chamber  of  the  late  prince,)  0: 
the  firft  rank  and  diftinftion,  in  difchajging  of  their  laft  fad  dut) 
I"  to  a  loved  and  loving  matter,  were  forced  to  befpeak  agrtai  rdd 
**  dinner  from  a    common  tavern   in   the    neighbourhood.     At  three 
«  o'clock,  indeed,  they  vouchfafed  to  think  of  a  dinner,  and  or- 
**  dead  one  but  the  dif grace  ijuas  compUat ;  the  tavern  dinner  was 
^  «  paid  for,  and  given  to  the  poor.    N.  B.  The  duke  ol  Somerfet 
f  «*  was  chief  mourner,  notwithftanding  the  flourilhing  itate  of  the 
t  •  royal  family.*"  ' 

•  Dddiagtoa's  Diary,  Dublin  edition,  p.  7a. 


<•% 


'%k 


CHAPTER    V. 


tdnaardt, — Hd'wardllt. — Hmry  V. — Condtiii  of  Britain  in  'various 

qitartert    of  thi    fiwrlj — Qtalieite — Guinea — Nmh- America — The 

Ttrjey  Prjfup  Ship — Bengal — General  ejiimate  of  DeJiruEtion  in  the 


AT  home  EnglJlhmen  admire  liberty,  but  abroad  they  have 
always  been  harfti  mafters.  Edward  the  Firft  conquered 
Wales  and  Scotland,  and,  at  thediftance  of  five  hundred  years,  his 
name  is  ye*  ftmemb^red  in  both  countries  with  traditionary  horror. 
His 
Xht  , 
Bla 

ttchievements  of  this  dfteftable  barbarian.  «  The  Knglifh  Jitfimian 
«  was  one  of  the  wifefl  and  moft  fortunate  princes,  that  ever  fat 
'*  upon  the  throne  of  England.  In  him  were  united,  the  prudence 
*«  and  forefight  of  the  ftatefman  and  legiflator,  with  the  valour  and 
<*  ttlagijanimoii"  fpiritofthchero."*  Edward  made  war  in  Palef. 
tine  and  in  France  He  butch'*red  fome  hundred  thoufan^n «  f  thp 
Wf  Ifh  and  the  Scof«.  He  wa  conftantly  at  variance  with  hi?  t . 
fubjcfts,  and  exerted  every  petty  fraud  to  ftrip  them  oi  t'lMi  pji 

•  Hiftoly  of  the  Public  Revenue,  part  i.  chap.  6. 


fe 


the 


man 

fat 

•nee 

and 

M" 

u 


(    15    ) 

perty.    The  fpoil  tbos  obtained)  was  expended  wimjcqiliklcl 
nalky.    We  Ihudder  id  think  of  a  domeftic  murder  niN^t  w^K^ii 
crowned  robber,  whofe  underftanding  is  perhaps  uneqfjil.  to  & 
oiHce  of  a  poft-boy,  fends  an  hundred  thoufand  brave  meir'Nli^^t]!!;" 
field,  to  defolate  provinces?   .nd  hew  nations  down  like  0x1^ 
call  it  Glory.    Thus  common  fenfe  and  humanity  are  oblitertt< 
a  rhapfody  of  words.    If  Edward  the  Firft,  as  a  private  man, 
murdered  a  fingle  Scot  or  WelOiman,  the  world  would  have  a£^ 
in  thinking  that  he  deferved  the  gallows.     But  when  he  o»/y,  upofl(^ 
the   moft   hateful    pretences,   butchered  three    or  four  hundred 
thoufand  people,  we  are  fummoned,  at  the  end  of  five  centuries,  to 
admire  *^  his  wifdom,  his  good  fortune,  his  valour  and  magnanit 
"  mity."    As  to  his  lai/dsmt  it  is  hard  to  fay  what  Engnhd  gilined 
by  his  viftories.    The  Welfh  were  independent  or  thereabouts,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  an  hundred  years  a^er  the  death  of 
Edward,  fo  that  the  merit  of  fubduing  them  is  to  be  placed  fome- 
where  elfe.    The  Scots  re«rolted  in  the  life-time  of  this  Edwara. 
He  died  on  a  journey  to  Scotland,  for  the  facred  purpofe  of  extir- 
pating the  Scots  nation.    He  would  have  been  much  wifer  if  he  had 
llaid  at  home  at  6rft,  and  faved  himfelf  the  trouble  of  an  impradicable 
conqued.     As  to  the  domeftic  legifiation  of  this  JuJUniafii  he  hang- 
ed two  hundred  and  eighty  Jews  in  one  day.  '*  Above  fifteen  thou- 
«*  fand  were  plundered  of  all  their  wealth,  and  baniflied  the  ki:sg- 
*f  dom."*    The  fame  writer  fays,  tha(  thrfe  enormities  wereciw*- 
n|l}tted  under  various  pretences,    Edward  iirli  introduced  tonnage 
alH|j}Oundage,  duties  on  imports  and  exfxtltt.    He  m^z^  m  t^tf 
tcImPH  a  fcourge  to  the  human  race.  * 

£dwiil>d  the  Second  warned  to  live  at  peace,  and  Sir  John  Sinclair 
tells  us,  that  his  reign  is  iem;irkable  fxn  **  the  wconmbrable  taMll 
«*  Tcvied."     He  was  fond  of  the  fociety  of  fom?  compankie^  «i(i|| 
all  the  hiftorians  ti\ention  this  mark  of  good  natU/  e,  its  a  very  ^tdtP 
weaknefs,  if  not<ji/o^//^^fnW.    The  heartofa  wolf  was,  at  that"^ 
time,  an  eflential  qualification, ,  for  a  king  of  England.     After  va- 
*  rious  rebellions  againft  him,  Edward  was  taken  prifoner  by  his  wife.; 
He  expired  in  Berk'-^y  cattle,  by  a  fpecics  of  death,  too   hoyjit;^ 
to  be*defcribed.    His  real  guilt  was,  a  focial  and  peaceable  difpo* 
fition.  ^ 

'*  The  reign  of  Edward  ihe  Third  is,  without  doubt,  the  moft 
*'  ^/fW/i/In  the  Englifh  hiftory. — His  queen  pawned  her  jewels. "+ 


and  this  pledge  lay  unredeemed  for 
rcat  part  of  France,  without  Mjf^ 


The  king  pawned  his  cronjur 

cighjy^  years.    He  conquered  a 

fort  of  ju^u.    n  his  fide.     The  rapacity  of  his  fon,  the  blaUx 

prince,  as  >    u  a  brn  emphatic&'iy  termed,  drove  the  French  into 

rebellion,  ||iati  the  Englilh  out  of  the  couatry.     Th"»  conque((,  and 

fubfequent||pulfior,  firft  planted  i\vc  feedb  of  tkv  btot^l  antipathy 


♦  Hiftoryr'  the  Public  Rcvirue,  pan  i,  chap.  6 
f  Ibid. 


'*;♦. 


"■•V 


i  ii  1 


Mrtfie^Ffench^eioplQ,  by  WhickEhgland  has  been  too  aiuch  diftm.' 


Ferox  Britannus  viribut  afttehac, 
GalKf<[ue  femper  cladibus  imminena. 


BUCRANAM 


.^<^  TRc  Eriton,  formerfy  k:r,',,,  in  his  ftrength,  and  aJnrlAll 
*  >||enacing  calamities  t<>  France. '  Englifhmen  pretend  to  ht 
tpod  of  the  horrid  ravages  committed  in  that  conntnry  %y 
Mward  J*c  T^ird,  by  his  fon,  and  l^  Henry  the  Fifth.  i!htjuf- 
tree  of  their  claims  nas  long;  been  given  up;  and  yet  we  are  desifened 
atbotir  their  «v^|ct.  Engliflimen  prattle  on  ^r-^r*  perfidy,  afid  of 
fBckingin^itn^tjteir  mother's  milk,  rrihoMclt  hatttu  for  that 
'  greateft  oflptioiTS^  '!^he  French  wars  of  Edward  tH^'^rblrd,  and 
Henrr  thelnfti^  '^^mkcA  was  plainly  the  ag^;reifor ;  m  the  coun- 
try)  fo  far  |ta  iolamg  pride  in  their  vi^ones,  oaghl!^  if  poffible, 
^1®^  ftrpprdTs  J&,  '|«rt  of  its  ancient  hiftory.  Philip  de  Comincs  pla- 
ces the  affeir  iu  a  proper  fight.  He  afcnbes  the;_(Cinl  wars  of  York 
liind  Lanical^er,  that  tucceeded  the  deatbof  Henry  the  fifth,  to  the 
indignation  of  divine  juftice.  The  inui^|er,  by  Richard  the  Third, 
of  his  two  nephews,  was  a  diminature  Hime,  contrafied  with  the 
atrocity  of  Crccy,  cT  Az^incoufly  and  PoidHers.  Henry  the  Fifth 
was  a  two-fbid  ufurper.  «<  If  hethoaght,"  fays  Horace  Walpole, 
**  that  he  had  any  tiifc  to  the  eronun  ofEnglandt  his  right  Vi  that  o\ 
er.l|i^anc<u  lb)}(nved  as  a  matter  of  courfe."  Since  his  time,  the 
!<^J|i!yjb#  have  called  themfelves  ^/v^x  of  France y  juft 
rat^1^^|P%  that  his  grand-father  had  ftolen  a  horfe. 
^  ti>^<^>l»ijbsvpm^  a  firiking  monument  of  thegpimiiuiii, 

feMift-,  '"^^'ItHttlaraty  of  the  Englifh  nation.  Thatdevo^  ifland 
Ijmd  of  tne  twelfth  centtrry,  over- run  by  aT'ei;,of  hildt^ 
fenry  the  Second.  This  eftablifhed  a  divine  rJj^tr  Sir 
^m  JDsvis  informs  us,  that  even  in  times  of  peace,  it  was  a3^udg- 
fd  naifekiny  to  kil!  a  mere  Irijhman,  This  acquifition  proved  ve- 
ry troomefome  to  the  conquerors.  *•  The  ufual  revenue  of  Ireland," 
faya  Mr.  Humci  "  amounted  only  to  fix  thoufand  pounds  a  year. 
•  The  queen,  (Elizabeth,)  though  with  much  repining,  commonly 
*•  added  twerrtjt  thoufend  pounds  more,  which  me  remitted  from 
"  England.'*  The  Jupremacy  was,  at  heft,  a  lofing  bargain.  la 
war,  afiairs  were,  ot  courfc,  an  h  ndred  times  worfr.  Sir 
John  Sinclair  fays,  that  the  rebellion  c  Tyr  ne,  which  la{ted  for 
eight  years,  coll  four  hundred  thouiind  pi,  ^nd^/^r «»««».  In 
>  TOO,  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds  were  fpent  in  fix  months^  and 
SirlRc!.«rt  Cecil  affirmed,  that  iu  ten  years,  Irebnd  coi^  England 
three  iniBions,  and  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds  fier|in|.  This 
jprofufkm  of  treafure  was  expended  in  fupportlng  the  jpifeitical  con- 
fuef  of  a  cotmtry  which  did  not  yield  a  (hilling  of  pM^t  to  Eng- 
land, nor  pay,  even  in  time  of  peace,  a  fourth  part  of  the  expeoce 
of  its  government*    The  comblation  of  infU^ng  the  deepeft  and 


I 
\ 
i 

r 
1 

f( 

r 
t! 

« 


ve- 

id," 

/car. 

(lonly 

Ifrom 

Sir 

Id  for 

III 

and 
rland 
TThis 

con- 
|Eng(- 

JCflCC 

^d 


(  r   ) 

moft  snivcrfal  wretchetine(k»  wa»  the  total  reconl|i|i|t 
the  good  people  of  England.    Sir  William  Pettyi  im^|d 
Anatomy,  fays,  that  in  the  year  164I)  Ireland  contact 

I  )466>ooo 
He  addsy  that  in  1652*  they  had  Tank  to       850)000* 

,  '  Decreafe        616,000 


"fkBh  in  eleven  years,  the  Irifh  nation  loft  fix  hundred  and  fixtc 
thoolaad  people.  In  1641,  they  had  been  driven  into  rebellkfn,  1  ^ 
the  tyllmny  of  tlvit  Engiiih  parliament,  #ho  condadled  Charles  Stu- 
art todbefcaffold.  On  the  incorruptible  virtues  of  that  upright^Wlt 
much  noii^Qfe  hath  been  fud  and  fung.  By  a  fingle  votcflby  q^fif- 
cated  two  H^illions  and  five  hundred  tnoufahd  acrcs^  gra^d  in  lie. 
land.  The  ve|if>le  ifltnd  was  transformed  into  an  p|i|rn|b  daughter* 
houfe.  Ireland,  glQiVcnied  by  an  Engiiih  refuhlk,  migibi  navefookedto«^ij 
wards  Morocco,  i|«  terrcftrial  paradife.  Compare^ith  the  tremen. 
duous  mafs  of  roililf  jModuced  by  StrafiTord,  CroiJilll,  Ireton,  and 
the  '.  -tuous  doke  of  Oi1(j|0od,  the  dungeons  of  the  Baftile,  or  the 
profcriptions  of  a  Roman  tiiomvirate,  ftirink  into  forgetfulnefs.-i- 

Neither  the  reftoration  of  Cherles  the  Second,  nor  the  glorious  re- 
volution,J  afforded  much  relief  to  Ireland.  The  people  contindcd 
to  groan  under  the  moft  oppreffive  imd  abfnrd  defpotifm,  till,  in 
denance  of  all  confequences,  the  inniMMrtal   Swift,    like  another 

Broke  the  dark  phalanx,  and  let  in  the  light.  ^' 

Tie  taught  his  country  to  underftand  her  importitfiBe.  At  laft  Aie 
lefolved  to  aj[&rt  it,  and,  as  a  neceflar}'  arrangement,  flie  aro(e  i* 
arms.  En^Uftd  faw  the  hazard  of  contending  wj||b  a  biiN%  «l «»» 
jured,  and  an  indignant  nation.  The  fabric  of  tMi^lrfm^remf>l^MK 
its  bafe  ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  ftiort  tinncii^'d^||mfti  eve- 
ry veftige  of  a  fupremacy,  difhonourable  and  p?rnicio9H|bth 
tions.  As  matters  now  ftaiid,  an  Iriihman,  who  lovesmrT^vurftf 
i-»  L  . 

.,       *  Tliefe  particulars  arc  borrowed  from  a  quarto  edition  of  Cuthn*'}   Cfs.injiirt 
printed  atDublin.     1  have  not  yet  feen  a  copy  of  the  Political  Anatomy-^  ■ 

+  Comiift  a  Review  of  the  Civil  Wars  in  Ireland,  by  Dr.  Curry.  An  epitooie 
of  his  valuable  book,  will  form  a  future  chapter  of  the  Political  Piogrefi. 

\  1  adopt  the  current  phrafe,  but  what^/or^- could  be  annexed  to  the  affair,  itk 
not  eafy  to  lee.     An  infatuated  old  tyrant  was  drferteJ  by  all  the  world,  and  Jltd 
from  his  dominions.     His  people  chofe  a  fucccflbr.     This  was  natural  enough, 
it  had  no  connection  with  gioiy.     James  ra»  aivay.,  which  precluded  all  opportu 
ties  for  heroifm.     The  charadter  ot  the  leaders  in  the  revolution  will  not  jufUfy' 
violent  encomium  on  the  purity  of  their   motives.     The  feleflion  of  William 
reprobated  veryfoon  after,  by  themfelvcs,  which  excludes  any  pretence  tOBtach 
liticat  forcfight.     Here  then,  isa^/or/Vftj  event,  accompli(hcd  without  an  actual 
fort  of  courage,  of  integrity,  or  of  wifdom.     When  the  Swifs,  the  i^ts,  the  Annp^j 
ricans,  the  Corlicans,  or  the   Dutch,  wreftled  againft  the  fuperior  forces  of  defpo-' 
tifm,  that  was  a  fcene  of  glory.     Hut  when  no  rcftAance  happentd,  the  difmiffionii  uf 
a  king  and  a  coachman,  were  equally  remote  from  it. 


y 

xongly  t,.mpted  to  wiih  that  England  were  funk  five  thoa- 
lomsl^low  ttie  German  ocean. 
In  the  Eaft  and  Weft-Iad|es,  the  condudt  of  the  **  united  king, 
doms"  may  be  candidly  compared  with  the  /m/ of  Atahualpa. 
j^lime  politicians  exult  in  the  vidory  of  Seringapatamj^. 
itotchery  of  the  fubjedts  of  a  prince,  at  the  diftance  of  fix, 
d  leagues  from  Britain.     Yet  it  wbuld  be  ah  event  the  mtift 
[duus  both  for  Bengal  and  for  ourfelves,  if  Cornwall;s>  wid||  4|| 
Is  myrmidons,  could  be  at  once  driven  out  of  India. 
>     But  what  quarter  of  the  globe  has  not  been  convulfed  by  Our  aim- 
Ibitiog^  our  avarice,  and  our  bafenefs  ?  The  tribes  of  the  B|i£ific 
^ceaii  arc  polluted  by  the  moft  loathfome  of  difeiiies.    0n  the 
:J^oce9'of  Afrita,  we  bribe  whole  nations  by  drunkennef8i,|0Tobbe- 
f;iy  an^  murder ;  while,  in  the  face  of  earth  and  heaveiijt  'our  fena- 
tors  aflemble  to  fjinAify  the  praftti:e,    Oui  brandy  h|s  brutalized 
^yor  extirpated  the  aborigines  of  the  weftern  continent  r  and  we  have 
Kifed  by  thoufands,  the  furvivors,  to  the  talk  of  bteodlTied.    On  an 
impartial  examiftltion,  it  will  be  found,  that  the  ^It  and  infamy  of 
this  pra(ftice,  exceed,  by  a  confiderable  Jd^Mce,  that  of  any  other  fpe- 
cies  of  crimes  recorded  in  hiftory.  Iti$-^ii^vorfe  than  even  the  pira-^, 
cics  of  the  Algerines,  or  the  African  flave  trade ;  becaufe,  though  the 
two  latter  have  coft  millions  of  lives,  yet  plunder,  not  afTaiTmation^ 
is  the  ultimate  objedi  of  purfuif ;  whereas,  a  plan,  for  exciting  the 
Indians  to  extirpate  the  people  of  the  United  States,  holds  out  no 
tefflptation,  either  of  conqueit  or  of  fpoil ;  and  can  arife  only  from  a 
genuine  monarchical  and  parliamentary  third  for  the    blood  of 
republicans. 

■  Oi^r  North-American  colonies,  including  the  Thirteen  United 
Slates,  foi^m^a  pretence  for  long  and  bloody  warsjiand  for  an 
|expeii4it«te  bf  two  hundred  and  eighty  millions  fterling.+  We 
ft3t  regain  Canadi,^at  an  immeife  annual  charge,  that  ihall  be 
hereafter  fifecwed.  yThe  money  is  wrefted  from  us  by  an  excife, 
iil«rhich  r^0Mn  the  dcftrjaftion  of  manufactures,  and  the  beggary  of 
m  thoufanH  noneft  families.  From  the  province  itfel^  we  never 
*Vaifed,  om  hope  to  raife  a  (hilling  of  effe<5live  revenue ;  and  the  . 
chief' icafen  why  its  inhabitants  endure  our  dominion  for  a  month 
longer,  is  to  fecure  the  money  that  we  fpend  among  them.lf^'* 

The  mode  of  condu6ling  our  war  againft  America,  correfponded 
with  the  julHce  of  our  caufe.     At  the  burning  of  Fairfield  in  Con- 


\ 


♦  On  the  6th  of  February,   1792.' 

"J-  Hiftory  of  the  Public  Revenue,  part  IT  I.  chap.  2. 
^;':^  The  Britilhcommiflioners  of  public  accounts,  in  their  fifteenth  report,  ftate 
IJi. Allowing  particulars.  The  amount  of  cuftoms  for  I7i!4,  in  the  ports  of  Que- 
bili  of  Halifax,  of  Newfoundland,  and  St.  John's,  was  five  hubdred  and  fixty- 
thrcie  pounds  fkrling ;  theexpenccsofcolle^ion  and  incidents,  one  thoufand,  two 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  pounds. '  1  he  charges  thus  exceeded  the  iilcome  by  fevfM 
ifundred  and  tiventy-Jive pounds .  '\  his  is  a  fummary  of  their  detail.  T  here  feemt 
tffhave  been  a-miftake,'  perhaps  by  the  printer,  in  cafting  up  the  figunfs,  to  the  ex- 
ent  of  fifty-feven  pounds.     This  trifling  circutnftance  is  only  mentioned  to  ward  o£F 

liarge  of  mif-quotation. 


A 


1 

J 
i 


■■>lr 


f 


' 


,,        i\ieAicutt  <<  a  fucking  infant  was  plundered  of  pact  c 

^      <*  while  the  bayonet  was  prefrntcd  to  tl^e  bread  ctiti  .mt 

At  ConnedUcul:  farms,  in  the  fUte  of  New- York,  Mrs;  Callilwi 
^,'  the  wife  of  a  Prefl)yterian  clergyinan)  was  (hot  dead)  by  a  tntiflc,e 
■   levelled  at  ^rrj  through  llie  window  of  a  room,  in  which 
;  fitting  with  her  children.    Pcimiffion  was  granted  to  rei 
body,  and  then  the  houfe  itfelf,  was  reduced  to  aihcs.f 
.aidkaft,  five  or  ten  thoufand  authentic  anecdotes  of  the  fame^     . 
i^ifjcriev,  a  Briti(h  prifon-ihip,  at  New- York,  will  be  loiig  re. 
mefliroeKea  in  the  United  States.    It  is  affirmed^  on  as  goo4  evi. 
deno||ptthe  nature  of  the  fubje£t  will  admit,  th»t,  during  tKlIaft 
fix  y$|i|(Of  the  war,  eleven  thoufand  American  prifoners  dial  of' 
hunger* :  and  every  fort  of  bad  treatment,  aboard  of  that  fingl^vef^ 
fel.^    For  lome  time  after  the  war  ended,  heap  of  their  bonei  lay 
whitening  in  the  fun^  on  theflioresof  Long-Ifland;    When  thl  il- 
luftrious  comfMlKler  at  Weft-Point,  deferted  to  Clioitbn,  no^ins 
could  be  moteWfomhig the fervict^  than. his  injftant promotion  ti 
rank  of  a  Britiih  h^^radKr-^eneral.    Philips,  and  other  Britifh  ofE> 
cers,  at  once  adopt&a  ihtm  as  their  aflpciate  and  their  confident. 

But  the  peninfula  within  the  Ganges,  is  the  grand  fcenc,  where 
the  genius  of  Britifh /ufremaey  difplays  its  meridian  fplendour.  CuU 
loden,  Glencoe,  and  Darien,,tKe  Britifli  famine  of  foyr  years, 
Burgoyne's  tomahawks,  Tarleton*k:^uarters,  the  Jerfey  prifon  (hip, 
and  the  extirpation  of  fix  hundred  aii4  fiji teen  thoufand  Irilh  men, 
women,  and  children,  dwindle  from  a  cbmparifon.  ^; 

*^  The  civil  wars,  to  which  our  violent  d^fire  of  creating  nabQ|>s 
**  gave  rife,  were  a[tten(|ed  with  tragical  evcnt|«    Bengal  was  %- 
**  populated  by  every  ^cies  of  public  diltrefs.    la  the  (j^ce  of^ 
"  years,  half^he  great  cities  of  this  opulent  kingdom  wd&  rcnderc 
**  defolate ;  tlie  moft  fertile  fields  in  the  world  lay  wail^  ao4jf^v> 
"  MILLIONS  of  harmlefs  and  induftrious  people  were,  either  eXj^jkl 
"  led  or  deftroyed.    Want  of  forefight  became  more  fhtal  than  in* 
<*  nate  barbaii^M\  and  men  found  themfelves  wading  through  ihaJ 
'*  and  r«w,fwh6n|their  only  objeft  was  fpcil."X    This  book 
publi(hedin|i77zl    The  author,  a  Scots  officer,  returned  to  India^ 
after  iti  publtcd^^t   His  return  to  Bengal  proves  that  t6e  accufation 
hercadvdhced  was  o{  notorious  authenticity,  and  that  colonel  Dow 
was  prepared  to  fupport  it,  at  the  point  of  his  fword. 

On  the  5th  of  June,  1 79Z,  Mr.  Francis  faid,  in  the  houfe  of  com- 

mons,  that  the  Bengal  newfpapers  were  perpetually  full  of  adver- 

tifements  for  the  fale  of  lands  feizedyor  luant  of  due  payment  dfrcve- 

.  nue.     He  held  in  his  hand  twa  of  thefe  ad\  ertiferaents ;  the  om^ 

%^ounced  the  fale  oi  feienteen  v'xWzgtit  and  the  other,  a  fale  of  l 

forty-t'wo.        He  quoted  fome  minutes  of  lord  Cornwallis  to  the 

fame^efFed.    One  of  thefe,  dated  the   18th  of  September,  1789, 

in^thefe  remarkable  words.    "  I  can  fafely  afiirin,  that  enc't 

Ramfay's  Hiftory  ofthe  American  Revolution,  vol.  li.  diap.  17. 
f  Ibid.  chap.  70,         %  Dow's  Hiftory  of  Hindoftan,  nJ.  in.  p.  7cw 


^,    fc!ft„ 


ii0 


•.iM!L 


feLgjy 


'$  lemtd^tii  BSaAtiBtan,  u  mm-  Ajwatk, 

W4L9  BVASlTf/' 

Ik  Eaft4iMli|^|(iiii»     gcnr«rned  t«ro  bniidred 
IlKwfsndi  four  llijiledf  aadtwdve  ibiH^  mies  of 

equal  to  cw!oelt»  a^rtaiDf  the  whole  ittpubUc 
tt  known  to  CQ^qprhjenll  twtinj'/ff^  miUkmt 
"^K^fie  writeit  on  tim  {mm  txt^fi»afXy  r«maii»  ^i^ "^ 
jjnf  HiiKioibii,  wtn  /onmfy  coliivtted  like  a  ^ 
''^  thm*felve$  aie,  pe^pd  tin  4oft  abftemious  oC; 
ir  fttbftfteoce  reqmieft  but,  a  triflino^  qaantity  of 
rith  that  of  any  race  of  people  in  Europer    Ffiii|  the 
.^etiii^K  o^  the  oitfivett  di^  btAt^  for  the  noft  pwr^,  jplfevr 
AgAcuItaJre  ind  manafafbrt^  had  ar'  Wed  at  s  )^|h.$egree 
'lion.    Frevi'  thefe  itaportant  and  combined  einfiv)  the  po- 
ll^ In4ia  fiinft  halfe  been  prodieiojii.    Bat}  if  We  fuppofe 
iy  bn^  in  proportion  to  that  of  Fianoej  ai^^i^  fuppofi^tion 
1^7  reafoodilet  the  do^niona  of  thp  £lipndia  company 
i  before  rht  rnmmrnrriiirnt  iifTlrirlfli  i  ni£p0n'  have  contained 
.y^r  tmUiim*  of  iohabitants)  ind  itoiiijgii^rcircuaifiances  that 
e  been  dated*  this  compotjMloa  h^^mktAtAy  not  overcharged. 
or  the  fake  of  diftinAneii,  we  (hal  ^Miied  by  the  help  of  cyphers. 

puUtionprevioustottieyear  175S  -  -  -  54tOOo»co» 

>ni  ComwaUU,  in  1 789,  ftatct,  that  vtm-tlnrj  part  of  t|iit 
couotrjr*  was,  at  that  Hine«  a  juogte  inhabiied  by  wild 
beafti.  For  this  jungle,  ddii|(|<flDe./<bWof  the  ancient 


Hpulation 

l^ujqj^e  that  the  remaining  tim>third  parti  of  thefe  provin. 
^  ^havetoflLMi^oae.lMiirof  the  number  of  the  ialMbv- 


i8,ooO|00o 


liutti  whom  thMwntained.  Ae/m-e  their  fuUiAipn  l»ihe 

|b-iti(h  Edj^bma  compan/.    This  one-half  gtota    -      i8,ooO||>qo 


?■>?» 


'■%  ■ 


36,000.000 
i8,coo,oco 


.tkhffrom  the  original  population 
tt  number  of  inhabitants 


Thast  In  thirty.five  years,  that  is,  from  17581  to  ijqit  inclu- 

IvCf  there  hat  been  an  uniform  wafte  of  people,  under  thefe  mer- 

^cimtile  fovereigns*  at  the  rate  of  more  thantfwr  millSatptr  annum ;  in 

l-4l^|icte,  THiRTY'Six  MILLIONS.    The  ptemifes,    on   which  this 

caioiilation  has  been  founded,  are  explicitly  placed  before  the  reader. 

At  to  ^>jttftice>  he  is  competent  to  deciae  for  liimfelf. 


THE    END. 


^#RRAtA.vl,   I^*is6.  Line  i«  front  bottom,  read  wm/  on. — P.  10. 

mdittOi  read,  If 66. — P.  13.  L.  it,  fror-ii  ditto,  for  nineteen,  read,  / 
W^ft^n.*-^,  lo*  bo^^i  Mae,  read,  179a.— P.  6t.  L.  i,  fr>m  ditto.  rcad,ai. 
r  itffr«~IP.  Cf.  t.  t4iyn>«  ditto,  read,  17I5. 


Ur^ 


i 


• 


P 


s* 


red 

.  of  ■■* 


t1 


A:       * 


*. 


^ 


',.    1, 


. .  *-.' 


'f'f,  ,. 


* 

"'^ 

^**p 

'■.^1 


''V 


nJfc 


1  ■'■  j^- 


■rr;,- 


^y 


11^ 


